The closing estimate is roughly 24 to 36 cruisers in service by 1914, perhaps with 12-inch guns in the last half-dozen. That number makes it easier to assemble four or five ships against Maximilian von Spee's squadron, possibly including a 12-inch ship as squadron leader. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau would still be difficult opponents in the hands of experienced German cruiser officers. An earlier defeat for the German squadron is plausible in this scenario, with British losses still possible.
Chapter · 1:08:11-1:10:07
What more cruisers could mean for von Spee's squadron
A larger overseas cruiser fleet could put a stronger British squadron in the path of the German East Asia Squadron earlier in the war.