The exercise evaluates smaller navies from the viewpoint of January 1939 without granting their leaders knowledge of the war's exact course. It asks what governments could infer from worsening international conditions and visible military preparations before the outbreak date was known. With no time to create a major fleet, the remaining choices concern readiness, basing, and procurement decisions that could still matter within a few months. Geography, industrial capacity, mobilization, and alliance access become as important as ship specifications.
Chapter · 0:30-1:24
What minor navies could still change in January 1939
The opening sets a no-hindsight planning exercise: identify practical remedies that smaller European navies could begin before war closes their options.