Several generations of aircraft appeared between 1920 and 1940, with roughly three more during the Second World War itself. Battleships and cruisers changed more slowly because treaty limits and interrupted construction made navies conservative or stopped new building altogether. The Royal Navy had already moved through major dreadnought generations from Dreadnought to Orion and Queen Elizabeth before this pause. The comparison helps explain why aviation capability could change dramatically while admirals still had to plan around long-lived ships and uncertain future aircraft.
Notable Point · 15:01-17:17
Aircraft generations raced past treaty-limited warships
Rapid aircraft development and treaty-constrained shipbuilding created very different innovation rhythms between aviation and surface fleets.