The scenario moves the Bellerophon and St Vincent classes forward. It projects seven British dreadnoughts to two German ones in 1909 and ten to four in 1910, compared with the historical baseline of seven to four used for comparison. Britain could at the same time have around a dozen 9.2-inch cruisers, and Germany could answer in part by building Von der Tann as a battleship. Concentrating capital-ship development on battleships could also bring forward the 13.5-inch designs. Germany having more than half Britain's dreadnought strength could look threatening, whereas the wider projected margins would make claims that it was approaching parity much harder to sustain.
Chapter · 37:06-39:45
Earlier battleship orders and Britain's dreadnought lead
A revised order sequence gives Britain a larger lead over Germany and could concentrate development on bigger battleship guns.