In what order would Britain replace the Iron Duke, 1911 King George V, and surviving battlecruiser classes under a seven-year treaty cycle?
Short answerBroadly by age, with the battlecruisers retained until later because they remained especially useful in peacetime.
NotesUnder the proposed replacement treaty, the older battleships would broadly leave service in age order. The surviving battlecruisers would probably remain until later because of their greater peacetime usefulness. Those useful roles give them a reason to survive beyond ships of similar age. The prediction concerns the hypothetical treaty's replacement cycle.