The design exercise asks how Britain might respond if the acceptable capital-ship limit were 45,000 tons in a world of 18-inch-gun ships. It points toward a faster, more heavily armed King George V-type ship, with twelve 16-inch guns arranged as an eight-gun forward group and a four-gun after turret. The United States and Japan would probably be pushed toward 18-inch weapons, while Vickers might market its 16-inch gun as the export alternative. Treaty limits set a common international design problem for every signatory.
Notable Point · 2:05:43-2:17:33
What would a 45,000-ton treaty battleship demand?
An alternate 45,000-ton limit invites a larger King George V-type design with heavier guns, more speed, and a very different treaty balance.