Delaying the First World War would allow France's expanded building programme to deliver more modern battleships and perhaps a fast battlecruiser wing. Russia could complete its Borodino-class battlecruisers, continue building 14-inch battleships, and pursue a proposed 16-inch ship for the Black Sea Fleet. British development raises a separate disagreement. Dr. Clarke considers an 18-inch-gun successor plausible because the gun was already under development, including his speculative interpretation of the proposed Agincourt as a six-gun ship. Fleet would prefer experimenting with triple 15-inch mountings or retaining twin 15-inch turrets before introducing the larger weapon. Both expect the Revenge class itself to remain substantially unchanged, so the divergence concerns later construction.
Notable Point · 1:14:48-1:16:55
A delayed First World War and the Entente's larger capital ships
More time before war could bring French and Russian capital-ship programmes into service and give Britain a choice between larger guns and new turret arrangements.