The naval understanding that deepened the entente

The secret arrangement encouraged a division of maritime responsibilities, with France concentrating in the western Mediterranean while Britain covered waters elsewhere. It did not make the two states equal naval partners or remove the practical limits of the French fleet. French forces might still need British reinforcement against the combined Italian and Austro-Hungarian fleets. The need for numbers helped slow the disposal of British pre-dreadnoughts, which could reinforce France or fill out the Grand Fleet while dreadnoughts deployed south. Force allocation and retention decisions gave a diplomatic understanding operational weight.