Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 2:44:25-2:51:40

Dutch battlecruisers before the Washington Treaty

Selling Lion-class battlecruisers to the Netherlands becomes plausible only near the end of their British frontline value, and it complicates both Far Eastern deterrence and treaty diplomacy.

Alternate HistoryBattlecruisersDutch East IndiesLion Class BattlecruisersRoyal NavyRoyal Netherlands NavyWashington Naval Treaty
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Question

What if Britain sold one or two 12- or 13.5-inch battlecruisers to the Dutch Navy around the end of the 1910s?

Short answer

Late sale of Lion-class ships could strengthen the Dutch East Indies and deter Japan, but it would make Washington Treaty ratios and naval status much harder to negotiate.

Notes

Britain would be reluctant to sell its own frontline battlecruisers during the 1910s, although building ships for the Dutch is a different proposition. The more plausible sale considered here moves the timing to 1919 or 1920, when Lion-class ships were approaching disposal. Deployment to the Dutch East Indies would give Japan another force to consider and support a British-Dutch interest in preserving the regional status quo. A permanent Dutch force would also be less vulnerable to the Royal Navy's competing Mediterranean commitments. Keeping these battlecruisers then raises a treaty problem: admitting the Netherlands to the Washington system would provoke arguments over its rank and whether other smaller capital-ship powers should also participate.