Submarines converted the battleships’ size advantage into a defensive liability.
Evidence
But the sneakers kept getting better. Soon it was possible to carry torpedoes in underwater ships, firing them without ever breaking the surface. The ultimate sneaks, submarines, could creep up to the biggest battleships and sink them from below, undermining the prestige and tactical effectiveness of a navy’s most powerful weapons. Like peasant farmers with crossbows, submarines shattered the traditional rules of engagement. Battleships became ungainly targets; their greatest strength, a liability. The only way to use them was to surround them with other ships, gobbling up fleet strength and limiting movement since each behemoth now had to be escorted by a gaggle of destroyers and escorts running interference. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 452
Categorization
- XREF: Direct analogy to sneaker strategies in biology — stealth undermines the utility of massive weapon systems, mirroring submissive or sneaking males in animal societies. — connects to: Warship-building cost restrictions turned fleet size into deterrent signals. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 392
- QUESTION: Worth chasing: do defensive escorts in naval doctrine map onto parental investment or helper strategies in animal societies?