Q&A · 56:41-59:41

No-treaty battle fleet deterrence

A no-treaty counterfactual turns German naval ambition into a problem of industrial catch-up against a much newer British battle fleet.

Question

In a non-treaty world, how quickly would the Royal Navy make Hitler's naval ambitions a non-starter?

Short answer

A continuously building Royal Navy could field newer, faster, heavier capital ships that leave Germany far behind in battleship science.

Notes

The counterfactual has the Royal Navy ordering capital ships every year or every other year rather than pausing under treaty limits. By the late 1930s, Germany could face a battle fleet with post-World War I generations of testing, refinement, larger guns, higher speed, and heavy armor. Germany might respond asymmetrically, but that would make its threat narrower.