A brief follow-up considers why navies did not do more experimental work with existing battlecruisers and battleships. Those hulls might have seen greater use as test beds if treaty rules had permitted it. The restrictions reached beyond headline limits on new construction and were strict about modifications to ships already in service. Arms-control regimes could therefore shape modernization pathways as well as the number and size of new warships.
Notable Point · 3:30:03-3:30:21
How treaty limits constrained capital-ship test beds
A short reply notes that arms-control rules restricted modifications to existing battleships and battlecruisers, limiting their use as experimental test beds.