Australia and New Zealand would likely be improved second-batch Lions, just as their historical ships differed from Indefatigable. Lion and Princess Royal form the first pair, bringing the 1909 total to four 13.5-inch ships after the Dominion orders. The scenario budgets £2.1 million apiece and retains construction at Devonport, Vickers, Fairfield, and John Brown. The size increase is judged insufficient to prevent those yards from building the replacements. Britain's practice of limiting major design changes gives the later pair particular importance: it supplies another opportunity to incorporate improvements already leading toward Queen Mary. Identical copies remain possible, but the expectation is that a second batch would advance the design.
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Second-batch Lions accelerate British design
Four 1909 Lion-type orders fit the assumed yard capacity and give designers another batch in which to incorporate improvements.