Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 9:12-15:09

A 23-knot British battle line and German design pressure

A 23-knot Orion counterfactual raises German construction costs and pushes later British and American battleship designs away from their historical forms.

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Question

If the 23-knot Orion preliminary design had been selected and following battleships matched that speed, how would Germany respond?

Short answer

Germany would face larger, more expensive designs and sharper tradeoffs as Britain raised the cost of matching the battle line.

Notes

A British battle line raised from 21 to 23 knots would force Germany to consider larger, more expensive battleships. The argument connects this pressure to the historical naval race: higher British capital-ship costs pushed German naval spending into competition with the army and encouraged sacrifices in cruiser and destroyer construction. Raising the baseline would also reduce the advantage of a 25-knot Queen Elizabeth, making a push toward 28 knots more attractive. The panel speculates that this could produce ships around 40,000 tons and alter the path toward Admiral-class designs. American standard battleships would also face pressure to become faster or heavier, although the discussion leaves their eventual form uncertain.