This is an explicit counterfactual about what follows if the Washington treaty system ends without a successful London agreement. The Royal Navy probably had plans for heavier sixteen-inch-gun ships ready, but the government might initially insist on nominally treaty-sized construction. A first generation near 35,000 tons would signal continued British restraint and express the hope that other powers kept the old limits voluntarily. That policy would become difficult to sustain as soon as foreign navies visibly ignored the ceiling. Political caution could therefore delay the operational response to an arms-control collapse even when the design organization had prepared alternatives.
Notable Point · 1:00:14-1:01:24
Treaty collapse may still produce one restrained generation
If no London settlement extended the treaty system, British politicians might still hold the first new battleships near the old 35,000-ton limit in hope that other navies reciprocated, before foreign escalation forced larger construction.