Battlecruisers as the high end of Jeune Ecole doctrine

A navy committed to cruisers and commerce warfare might still adopt an Invincible-style battlecruiser. Speed and battleship-scale guns would let it overpower any escort short of a true capital ship, a path compared with the American Lexington concept. A substantial American battlecruiser force would force the Royal Navy to reconsider its own construction balance while maintaining battleship superiority over Germany. The First World War then becomes a doctrinal test: the United States might conclude that British losses at Jutland exposed the ships' weakness, or blame British employment and preserve the concept. Combat evidence would be interpreted through the institution's existing beliefs. The later prospect of an Alaska facing Nagato illustrates the concern about taking a cruiser-derived force into another war.