A forty-ship County-class programme

How would other navies react if Britain built forty County-class cruisers before the London Naval Treaty?

The United States would be concerned, but the largest effect would likely be higher treaty cruiser allowances and a larger Royal Navy cruiser force.

A hypothetical programme of forty 10,000-ton County-class cruisers would probably alarm the United States, although Congress might still refuse to finance additional American ships. The larger effect would be Britain's bargaining position at the London Naval Treaty. A fleet already containing forty heavy cruisers could support an allowance of about 400,000 tons for that category, with a similar proposed allowance for light cruisers. That larger settlement might finally supply the Royal Navy's desired minimum of seventy cruisers. These figures belong to the counterfactual.