The later Royal Navy would look very different because the largest fleet in the world would have just won a war and saved an ally from destruction. That experience would make a Washington-style limitation system politically difficult to justify. Rebuilding would also direct contracts and employment toward important constituencies, giving naval expenditure an additional domestic constituency. The result is a postwar environment that rewards renewed capital-ship construction rather than negotiated restraint.
Notable Point · 1:03:33-1:05:50
Why fleet victory makes naval treaties less likely
A fleet that visibly saves France and ends the war gives British politicians little incentive to accept the familiar postwar naval treaty system.