Fisher's fast-ship concept works better on a map than in diplomacy. Once a crisis begins, modern ships concentrated with the battle fleet are difficult to release for distant stations. The older British system kept successive generations of ships in home waters, overseas stations, and reserve so that the navy could show the flag and still reinforce a war zone. One alternative was to move older ships into reserve and reduce them more slowly, although that policy cost money Fisher had promised not to request. Fisher appears to have expected more time to deter war and complete replacement, an assumption the 1914 crisis defeated. He would have needed an entire new fleet, with the endurance for overseas work, to replace the layered system successfully.
Notable Point · 44:34-49:47
Why a global navy needs ships already abroad
A fleet concentrated in European waters may be militarily mobile, but it cannot instantly replace day-to-day imperial presence across the world.