A speculative building pause and delayed First World War

The modified Queen Elizabeth class could make other powers pause and reconsider their construction plans, producing another design shock comparable to Dreadnought. Governments redeveloping their forces might then be less willing to escalate a crisis. In that speculative branch, the assassination still occurs, but the wider war is delayed. A twelve-month pause elsewhere, set against the British three-month redesign delay, would give Britain a net nine-month advantage in this example. More British ships could therefore finish in peacetime or be close to completion when hostilities began.