[Aktungbby]

Actually this can go into my superb Rimpac thread http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=214616 but having read the article, it has all the earmarks of the dreadnought build-up prior to WWI between Germany and Britain. The primary weapon in war is money(the sinews of war ) and as with WWI, bankrupting the competition in an arms race is a viable option (such as causing Germany 's expansion-construction of the Kiel canal only to cause the building of a class of ships that wouldn't fit in the canal. Dreadnought is required reading.) China's economy is it's weakpoint and with the inordinate focus on military expense which returns nothing to the economy's infrastructure, especially in a nation forced to go abroad for its resources-this is old school prewar economic warfare.

In order to meet the increasing traffic and the demands of the Imperial German Navy, between 1907 and 1914 the canal width was increased. The widening of the canal allowed the passage of a Dreadnought-sized battleship. This meant that these battleships could travel from the Baltic Sea to the North Sea without having to go around Denmark. The enlargement projects were completed by the installation of two larger canal locks in Brunsbüttel and Holtenau. The cost in 1914: 242,000,000 Marks!

Nuthin' good goes outta style BBY. Brunsbüttel lock The canal was partially closed in March 2013 after two lock gates failed at the western end near Brunsbüttel. Ships larger than 125 metres (410 ft) were forced to navigate via Skagerrak, a 450-kilometre (280 mi) detour. The failure was blamed on neglect and a lack of funding by the German Federal Government which has been in financial dispute with the state of Schleswig-Holstein regarding the canal! A great convenience in SH V but a pain in the aß in real life; one bomb in this lock and adios strategic canal! http://www.hms-services.com/doc/On-the-Screen_No1_2012-06.pdf