A global fleet had to fit existing docks and draw on bases, repair facilities, fuel, and other support around the world. Those physical limits make an unrestricted British design very different from an impractical eighty- or hundred-thousand-ton giant. The estimate offered here is a ship of roughly 45,000 to 50,000 tons, designed for twenty-eight to thirty knots and probably mounting nine sixteen-inch guns. Belt protection might rise to about fifteen inches, somewhat heavier than the later King George V class. In broad terms, the result resembles an enlarged and better-protected Lion-class concept. Removing a treaty ceiling would still leave the infrastructure ceiling governing where a capital ship could operate.
Notable Point · 55:08-1:00:14
Infrastructure limits the Royal Navy's unconstrained battleship
Even without treaty limits, dockyards and global basing would constrain a Royal Navy battleship to a practical fast design of roughly 45,000 to 50,000 tons with sixteen-inch guns.