Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:08:00-1:16:26

Imperial warship transfers and American treaty fears

A hypothetical transfer of British capital ships to dominion navies leads to the treaty-era fear that the Empire could multiply Royal Navy strength.

BattlecruisersBritish EmpireIndefatigable Class BattlecruisersNaval TreatiesRoyal NavyUS NavyWarship TransfersWashington Naval Treaty
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Question

What would happen if Britain transferred older capital ships to dominion navies after the First World War?

Short answer

The United States would likely see it as an alarming expansion of Imperial naval power, helping explain strict treaty rules on disposing of warships.

Notes

Transferring older battlecruisers and dreadnoughts to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand raised concerns about the likely American reaction. American disposal rules reflected anxiety that Britain could strengthen the Empire's navies and effectively reconstitute a much larger force. The feared threat appears less practical than American planners imagined, though understandable within treaty-era rivalry. A more suitable distribution would send New Zealand to New Zealand, the surviving Indefatigable-class ships to Australia, and a later group of early dreadnoughts to Canada. Treaty restrictions and ship suitability interacted with political perceptions of naval power.