An 18-inch R class reshapes treaty limits

What changes if the R-class battleships are fast ships armed with eight 18-inch guns?

Britain would probably complete the class, possess several 18-inch-gunned capital ships, and push any Washington settlement toward much larger displacement and gun-calibre limits.

Two such ships could reach Jutland, and the Royal Navy might enter the postwar period with the R class, Courageous-type ships, Renown, Repulse, and Hood carrying 18-inch weapons. A fleet built around that standard makes a 35,000-ton, 16-inch treaty ceiling much harder to negotiate. Limits nearer 45,000 tons and an 18-inch gun ceiling are more plausible, forcing the United States, Japan, and Germany to respond to a much higher British benchmark.