The counterfactual changes the First London Naval Treaty by retaining individual ship limits while dropping the cumulative carrier cap. By 1933, Britain could treat new warships as both fleet renewal and job creation. Pairs of carriers and capital ships might be ordered each year to sustain yards and restart heavy construction. Existing Admiralty design studies would let the Royal Navy move relatively quickly once treaty limits changed, while battleships ordered in 1933 or 1934 would probably carry 15-inch guns. The timing precedes the German naval buildup and the Yamato programme, so the orders would initially arise from British policy rather than a direct response to those ships. The proposal connects carrier force structure to employment, design capacity, yard workload, and the economics of interwar rearmament.
Notable Point · 24:48-26:20
Early carrier programmes as rearmament and employment
A British building programme begun in 1933 could combine naval replenishment with employment policy by ordering carriers and capital ships in a steady industrial cycle.