Giving Third Sea Lords discretion to fund promising projects would shift some development risk from manufacturers to the state. Industry would still originate projects and build the equipment, with public funding arriving when a concept was ready for physical testing. Buying five additional test barrels after a firm has made the first would allow much more experimentation, including failures, while using production equipment already installed. The later 13.5-inch and 15-inch gun programmes provide a precedent for applying this approach earlier and extending it to turbines and boilers. If more advanced ships raised German costs enough to reopen political arguments over naval funding in the late 1900s or around 1910 or 1911, Germany might stop fulfilling its naval laws sooner. The effects on diplomatic alignments and the outbreak of the First World War remain open questions.
Chapter · 2:09:40-2:14:10
A small funding change could end the naval race earlier
The scenario shifts risk from manufacturers to the state, accelerating tests enough to raise German costs and potentially change the politics leading to war.