The counterfactual begins with the Dominion-funded Indefatigable-type ships alongside Lion and Princess Royal. Australia and New Zealand were capable ships in their own right. The timing is the problem: both were ordered after the Royal Navy had committed to a larger-gunned, better-protected battlecruiser generation. That comparison raises the procurement question of why the Dominions accepted flagships that current British construction was already overtaking.
Chapter · 0:23-2:54
Why the Dominion battlecruisers looked second-class
Australia and New Zealand were ordered with 12-inch guns after the Royal Navy had already moved toward 13.5-inch battlecruisers.