British design escalation avoids the R-class pause

The counterfactual Royal Navy may move to 15-inch guns by 1912 and consider still larger weapons by 1914, while laying down an entire battleship squadron each year. A 9.2-inch armored cruiser can absorb the distant cruising role as fast battleships form a quicker battle fleet. Larger hulls also make triple turrets and twelve-gun 15-inch designs conceivable, and the historical shift to slower R-class battleships no longer fits an arms race demanding continued speed and firepower growth. By the historical Jutland date, Britain could possess roughly 27 to 30 fast 15-inch ships against perhaps ten German counterparts.