The United States would have to choose between fast battleships and funding separate battleship and battlecruiser programmes. Britain would likely pursue roughly 32-knot battlecruisers and battleships in the 25- to 28-knot range. Small-tube boilers, geared turbines, and diesel cruising machinery would receive earlier attention because speed and endurance must be paid for together. More machinery weight would force larger hulls while other navies continued their own gun and armour races. The cumulative pressure could move a Washington-style capital-ship limit toward 50,000 tons instead of the historical 35,000.
Notable Point · 1:40:25-1:44:31
How a speed race reshapes propulsion and treaty limits
A German speed challenge would push British and American propulsion choices upward and could make much larger treaty battleships politically normal.