A submarine-centered German navy would trigger earlier British construction of convoy escorts and sloops. A carrier or land-based aviation response would also demand investment in naval aircraft and especially aerial torpedoes, a field in which German weapons remained weak for much of the war. By 1936 the wider treaty system might have little effect after Japanese, Italian, and Soviet withdrawal, leaving Germany to consider several new Soviet battleships in the Baltic as well as the larger western fleets. Britain would already possess modern capital ships and carriers, leaving more freedom to answer a specialized German threat. German procurement could still suffer from competing authorities, each expecting its own decisions to govern ship construction.
Notable Point · 1:25:53-1:29:25
Why German naval alternatives still trigger stronger answers
A submarine or aviation pivot would provoke specialized Allied counters, while weak aerial torpedoes and divided procurement authority still obstruct coherent German execution.