In 1904, the British Admiralty - with one eye on Germany - established a new naval base at Rosyth. Jackie Fisher, then First Sea Lord, strongly opposed the site as unsuitable thanks to its distance from the open sea and the Forth Bridge across the entrance. As a result of his opposition - and at the time he quite happily bragged about the fact - no substantial work took place for six years, and it was 1915 before the dockyard was ready to receive ships.
Fisher's preference was for the Humber or the Cromarty Firth, later settling definitely on the latter. Invergordon, the major town on the Cromarty Firth, later became a naval base, but on a rather smaller scale than the establishment at Rosyth.
What if Fisher got his way, and the new naval base and dockyard was established on the Cromarty Firth?
Fisher's preference was for the Humber or the Cromarty Firth, later settling definitely on the latter. Invergordon, the major town on the Cromarty Firth, later became a naval base, but on a rather smaller scale than the establishment at Rosyth.
What if Fisher got his way, and the new naval base and dockyard was established on the Cromarty Firth?