Would the United States still order the Daniels Plan fleet if the First World War were delayed?
Short answerThe discussion links the historical programme's scale to wartime pressure and questions whether Congress would approve it without that pressure.
NotesThe discussion links the scale of the 1916 Daniels programme to the European war and the possibility of American involvement. Its question is whether Congress would have approved the same expansion without a war beginning in 1914. The British comparison combines ships already carrying 15-inch guns with hypothetical later ships carrying 18-inch or 16.5-inch guns. Those later designs belong to the delayed-war scenario, rather than the historical fleet. Funding and construction decisions are examined in the international circumstances in which the programme was proposed.