Q&A · 3:17:15-3:18:46

A larger treaty fleet with a construction holiday

Retaining a construction holiday still allows an alternative replacement program from about 1930, giving Britain an earlier start on rebuilding its capital-ship industry.

Question

What if Britain had a 25-capital-ship fleet but still observed a construction holiday and retained the 13.5-inch ships?

Short answer

In this alternative, older British ships would become eligible for replacement around 1930, allowing an earlier industrial recovery and more new construction before 1939.

Notes

Keeping the construction holiday changes the timetable for renewing a 25-ship fleet. The proposed alternative retains Britain's older 12-inch and 13.5-inch ships, then allows replacements from about 1930 as those ships age out. Their greater age would let Britain begin replacing them before many American 14-inch ships. This produces fewer new ships than continuous construction from 1922, but starting again in 1930 preserves more infrastructure and gives the yards several years to regain production capacity before 1939.