Q&A · 2:05:25-2:14:39

A larger Queen Elizabeth, Revenge, and Renown fleet

Extra 15-inch-gunned capital ships strengthen Jutland, encourage a larger treaty fleet, and make interwar modernization easier to schedule.

Question

How would a much larger First World War British capital-ship fleet affect later King George V and Lion planning?

Short answer

It would probably preserve a roughly 25-ship battle fleet and improve modernization depth, while new King George V and Lion orders remain constrained mainly by industrial capacity.

Notes

The scenario gives Britain seventeen battleships and five battlecruisers with 15-inch guns before the treaty negotiations. Keeping those twenty-two ships while adding three 16-inch ships leads to a proposed British and American ceiling of twenty-five, with fifteen Japanese ships and ten each for France and Italy under the assumed ratios. Earlier construction could also put about six Queen Elizabeths and three or four Revenges at Jutland, increasing the heavy gunfire available to Jellicoe. Britain could organise full squadrons around a largely common 15-inch armament, and an alternative completion of 15-inch F3s is considered. King George V and Lion orders would probably remain near their historical rate because industrial infrastructure, armour production and competing reconstruction work limit output. A larger inherited fleet would improve the depth available for reconstruction and secondary duties.