Drawing on his experience at Danzig and as a fleet commander, Holtzendorff judged that German construction could not erase Britain's structural industrial advantage. The point is not simply that Britain had more ships; it could also absorb technical leaps at a scale Germany could not match. The Queen Elizabeth class and its 15-inch guns illustrate the kind of leap British yards could sustain. Holtzendorff's opposition to the naval race led to retirement before the war, but it remained central to his later strategy.
Notable Point · 5:41-7:20
Why Germany could not outbuild Britain
Holtzendorff opposed matching the Royal Navy ship for ship because British industry and dockyards could expand faster than Germany's.