A 1930 Royal Navy reform program starts with carriers, guns, and machinery

How would you change the Royal Navy starting in 1930?

Build larger purpose-built carriers and modernize existing 15-inch capital ships through improved guns, turrets, machinery, and armour.

Naval aviation was the Royal Navy's fastest-growing area in 1930, making larger purpose-built carriers near Ark Royal's scale the first priority. With hindsight, Argus, Eagle, and Furious would be phased out in that order, with Hermes a possible later retirement. The proposal also exposes a disconnect between officials negotiating treaty limits and those conceiving the fleet's future requirements. For the battle line, improving the existing 15-inch gun and its turrets would take priority over developing a new 14-inch weapon. Boiler, speed, and protection upgrades would then extract more capability from existing capital ships while the carrier force expanded.