The treaty capped capital-ship guns at 16 inches. Hood's eight 15-inch guns made its exceptional size more acceptable to powers retaining 16-inch ships. Its layout also appeared less efficient than Britain's latest postwar studies. A speculative alternative concerns the unbuilt British Agincourt: the hypothesis links small-tube boilers and 18-inch guns with later British development programmes. That possible armament is explicitly uncertain and does not describe a completed 18-inch Agincourt.
Notable Point · 23:41-25:49
The 16-inch ceiling and why Hood could be retained
Hood's 15-inch battery helped make its retention acceptable, while an uncertain Agincourt hypothesis illustrates how British 18-inch ships might have changed negotiations.