The numbers complicate the familiar picture of Germany as the natural submarine power and Britain as merely the opponent of undersea warfare. The Royal Navy already operated the largest of the three forces and expected its destroyer and submarine programs to continue. Public calls to ban or stigmatize submarines coexisted with substantial British investment in them. In the delayed-war scenario, Britain therefore enters 1920 with a deep undersea development base rather than beginning from neglect.
Notable Point · 2:39:27-2:40:19
The Royal Navy already had the largest submarine force
In 1914 Britain fielded about 75 submarines, compared with roughly 50 for France and 30 for Germany, despite public British arguments that submarines should be restricted.