How should the Royal Navy respond if rival navies embraced Jeune École coastal battleships and torpedo forces?
Short answerKeep building ocean-going battleships, but add destroyers and fast-firing guns to defeat the torpedo craft that support the rival strategy.
NotesCopying the Jeune École's coastal battleships would not answer the threat. The Royal Navy would still need ocean-going battleships able to find and defeat the opposing force. Its practical adjustment would be more destroyers and more quick-firing guns to stop torpedo boats and their flotillas before they reached attack range. A navy can adapt its protective screen without surrendering its existing strategic role.