German industry eventually built hundreds of U-boats, raising the stakes if an unbeatable British battleship pushed Tirpitz's navy toward submarines earlier. Britain could construct many escorts but lacked the mature tools that made those escorts effective submarine hunters. Depth-charge work began around 1913, while an effective weapon appeared only in 1916 under wartime pressure. Hydrophones existed in limited forms, but ASDIC development did not deliver a broadly useful service capability until after the war. Germany's retooling time was only part of the danger because Britain would enter the contest before reliable detection and attack methods had caught up.
Notable Point · 2:03:55-2:05:27
Why an early German submarine turn would be dangerous
The Maximus counterfactual exposes a prewar capability gap: Britain could build escorts, but effective submarine detection and attack systems were not yet mature.