Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 2:53:48-2:54:47

How completed Lexingtons could preserve the G3s

Completed 40,000-ton Lexington battlecruisers would strengthen the US bargaining position and make Britain more likely to retain two G3 battlecruisers.

Alternative HistoryG3 Class BattlecruisersLexington Class BattlecruisersWashington Naval Treaty
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Question

How would completed Lexington-class battlecruisers change the fate of the American standards and British G3s?

Short answer

Older US standards would be more expendable, while Britain could plausibly retain two G3 battlecruisers and convert two more as carriers.

Notes

The oldest generation of American standard battleships would probably disappear if Lexington-class battlecruisers were completed. Treaty bargaining would then change: several operational American 16-inch, 40,000-ton ships would make it harder to force every British design below that scale. Britain could press to complete two G3 battlecruisers. The other two hulls might then become carriers, producing a mixed pair of G3 combatants and a pair of G3 conversions.