Risk Fleet Theory sought a German battle fleet large enough that defeating it would cost Britain dangerously many ships and expose the Royal Navy to attack by other powers. The argument failed because Britain could keep building and could not concede to a hostile fleet so close to home without accepting strategic defeat. Germany therefore entered a capital-ship competition it never intended to win outright. Against fears of a Copenhagen-style pre-emptive attack, fast minelayers offered defensive depth and a way to threaten British operations without matching dreadnought for dreadnought.
Notable Point · 42:50-44:17
Why Risk Fleet Theory could not solve Germany's problem
Germany could not outbuild the Royal Navy in dreadnoughts, while British proximity made the deterrent assumptions behind Risk Fleet Theory especially fragile.