A battlecruiser category reshapes carrier conversions

What if battlecruisers had been a separate treaty category?

Separate allowances could preserve fast capital ships, alter Japanese and American conversion choices, and slow or redirect early carrier development.

A separate category could let Britain and the United States retain six battlecruisers, while Japan kept or replaced the Kongōs. Preserving those hulls changes which large ships become carriers and may tie early carrier development more closely to the battle fleet. The later follow-up gives the United States four completed Lexington-class battlecruisers and two sister hulls converted as carriers. That fast squadron could meet Kongōs serving as carrier escorts in the Pacific. Treaty categories shape force structure by deciding which hulls become surplus.