The Agincourt experiment extends beyond one ship into the battleship race and treaty system. If an 18-inch-gun ship had entered Royal Navy service, Hood or another fast capital ship might have received the same calibre. That precedent could have changed the need for 16-inch Nelson and Rodney as well as the limits negotiated after the First World War. Ships already in service could shape what diplomats treated as an existing entitlement rather than a purely technical possibility.
Notable Point · 8:21-8:50
How 18-inch British ships could reshape naval treaties
An operational British 18-inch battleship could have influenced Hood's armament, the Nelson class, and the calibre allowances negotiated into later naval treaties.