Removing one main-battery turret and its ammunition could have brought a Lexington battlecruiser closer to a 40,000-ton ceiling, while sister hulls became carriers. A twenty-capital-ship settlement might therefore leave the United States with three battlecruisers and three conversions rather than cancelling nearly the whole class. The counterfactual pairs carriers and battlecruisers in task groups whose speed and striking power would complicate Japanese Kongo-class deployments. Britain could answer by modernizing Hood, Renown, and Repulse earlier and by building additional Ark Royal-style carriers, spreading the counterfactual effect across all three navies.
Notable Point · 1:20:31-1:29:45
A larger allowance could have paired Lexington battlecruisers with carriers
A twenty-capital-ship settlement might have produced several reduced-armament Lexington battlecruisers alongside conversions into fleet carriers.