Fisher's aggressive language and enthusiasm for speed and heavy guns encouraged German expectations, but British infrastructure told a different story. Investment in Scapa Flow supported a distant blockade from the northern approaches, avoiding German mines and torpedo craft. German officers cruised toward Norway almost every year from 1909 yet failed to interpret the new northern base as evidence against an inshore offensive. Much of the operational thinking came from the Naval Intelligence Division under Prince Louis of Battenberg and, especially, Rear Admiral Henry Oliver, because the Royal Navy lacked a conventional staff. That arrangement produced plans but also a dangerous gap between planners, senior naval leaders, and politicians who were not fully told what the fleet intended to do.
Chapter · 14:15-20:32
Scapa Flow signaled Britain's distant blockade
British basing and Naval Intelligence Division planning pointed toward distant blockade rather than a charge into German coastal defenses.