Britain abandons battleships for 9.2-inch cruisers

How would Japan and the United States react if Britain replaced its postwar capital ships with 9.2-inch super cruisers?

Capital-ship competition would continue, while the Americans faced commitments in both oceans and a much larger British cruiser force.

Replacing Britain's battleships with cruisers would leave Japan and the United States facing a different naval balance after World War I. A Washington-style settlement would probably disappear, while a capital-ship race continued elsewhere. Japan could no longer expect British battleships to support it in a conflict with the United States, and the Americans would have to provide capital-ship strength in both oceans. Converting British capital-ship tonnage into cruisers produces a suggested force of sixty to a hundred ships with 9.2-inch guns. A concentrated battle line could defeat such cruisers in a fleet action, but a pack of them could overwhelm an isolated battleship.