The source sees 13.5-inch guns as the established heavy armament for battleships and large cruisers, while six-inch batteries are presented as the practical answer to torpedo attack and a possible weapon in fleet action. Armour was spreading over a greater area rather than becoming dramatically thicker, although advocates of reducing protection weight were again being heard. The survey therefore characterizes the period as one of modification rather than revolution. Yet longer-ranged torpedoes, more capable submarines, and rapidly improving aircraft made that apparently evolutionary balance much less secure than it appeared.
Chapter · 3:27-6:08
A seemingly stable arms race with disruptive technologies beneath it
The 1910-era survey describes incremental improvements in big guns and armour even as torpedoes, submarines, and aircraft were changing the strategic picture.