The alternate programme orders Rodney, Nelson, Anson, Howe, and Cochrane in 1920 as fast battleships. Cochrane later becomes an aircraft carrier named after Admiral Cochrane. Britain refuses the proposed Washington Naval Treaty settlement because the new battleships are already well advanced and it wants to finish them. The essay follows fire control, gunnery, Fleet Air Arm organisation, engines, and command structures across the interwar period and into the Second World War. Its emphasis extends beyond the ships' designs to the organisations operating them.
Chapter · 1:33:31-1:36:02
Essay scenario: five Rodney-class fast battleships
The first featured essay follows five fast battleships, a Cochrane carrier conversion, and a Royal Navy that refuses the historical Washington settlement.