Why naval knowledge has exceptional leverage around 1900

When would a modern naval historian's technical knowledge have the greatest marginal value?

Around 1900, when mature industry could rapidly turn advanced design knowledge into better machinery, ships, and naval aviation.

The greatest marginal value comes when the receiving society can understand and mass-produce the recommended technology. Around 1900, boilers, metallurgy, gun manufacture, and marine engineering were already mature enough for a knowledgeable visitor to accelerate small-tube boilers, hollow shafts, and other refinements. Those changes could improve machinery and ship design without requiring an industrial revolution from scratch. Early attention to aircraft carriers and large-caliber gunnery could then reshape fleets before the First World War. The answer frames technological transfer as a match between knowledge and production capacity, not merely possession of future facts.