A rival with comparable technology and a suitable budget could answer Dreadnought or the Invincibles with a stronger design of its own. In this interpretation, Fisher expected that response even as politicians hoped a decisive first move would discourage competition. A qualitative race rewards the next advance in guns or speed and keeps design and production teams busy. Competition for technical prestige is judged less politically dangerous than a quantitative race over which fleet can overpower the other. Miscalculation around Dreadnought and the Invincibles may have helped turn the Anglo-German contest towards that more threatening comparison of fleet numbers.
Notable Point · 19:04-21:21
Better ships and more ships in the Anglo-German race
A race for more powerful guns and faster ships places different demands on governments from a race to match an opponent's hull count.