Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 34:23-35:12

A Nelson successor without the treaty building holiday

Without a battleship building holiday, the Royal Navy would likely have evolved the Nelson design rather than jumped to a wholly different fast battleship.

BattleshipsNaval TreatiesRoyal NavyShip Design
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Question

Without the Washington Treaty building holiday, what might the Royal Navy's next battleship have looked like?

Short answer

Probably an evolutionary, faster Nelson-class development retaining 16-inch guns.

Notes

Without a building holiday, the Royal Navy could replace ships once they reached an agreed age, suggested here as twenty years. Successive replacements would probably develop the Nelson design and increase its speed. Triple 15-inch turrets are possible, but retaining triple 16-inch turrets is judged more likely. That choice could bring the whole battle line onto the largest gun calibre allowed by the treaty.