The Third Sea Lord's responsibility for a future fleet

As Third Sea Lord, Jellicoe did not trust the advertised performance of British twelve-inch guns, shells, or armor testing. He used that doubt to support heavier weapons and the Orion-class super-dreadnoughts. The office had to consider the present and future simultaneously because the ships ordered now might remain in service for more than twenty years. Constructors and specialist teams supplied designs and evidence, but the Navy expected the Third Sea Lord to make the final material judgment. Technical foresight was therefore an institutional responsibility for the future fighting fleet, far more than a narrow design preference.