HMS Defence

The German navy never needed to be as large as the British, just credible and capable wherever it chose to be present.

The primary role of the East Asia Squadron was therefore to be a threat to British trade and imperial shipping.

In 1905, German naval doctrine said, "...damaging of British trade was the main goal of all operations.

A secret departure into the Pacific would require the enemy to search and thereby divide its forces, creating an opportunity for success against the smaller part." By creating uncertainty on the main commercial trading routes, a temporary cessation of British shipping in Asia could be achieved.

If conditions were favorable, an attack on enemy warships could be considered in order to cripple British trade and to achieve superiority at sea.

With this doctrine at the heart of the German naval thinking, the British would have to commit significant naval resources to provide some level of protection to its colonies, dominions and commercial shipping, wherever Germany chose to station its ships.

From the late 1890s, Germany passed a series of German Fleet Acts, creating the funding and ambition for the expansion of its navy.

These were largely ignored by the British until 1908.