How US armoured cruisers could have raised treaty limits

What if the United States had built a new armoured cruiser alongside every battleship before the First World War?

The US would probably innovate, Britain would answer, and the resulting arms race could establish a heavier cruiser category in the naval treaties.

The US Navy is expected to innovate rather than repeat the Tennessee class if Congress funds an armoured cruiser for every battleship. Britain would then build large cruisers to avoid falling behind. Once battlecruisers grow toward 30,000 to 40,000 tons, a 15,000- to 20,000-ton cruiser becomes a meaningful intermediate type rather than an expensive near-duplicate. The resulting ships might therefore enter treaty negotiations as a recognised category with a higher displacement ceiling.