Treaty escalation clauses provided a route to larger British capital ships when rival construction justified raising the limits. In this account, activating those clauses effectively superseded the earlier treaty restraint. Construction then faced wartime disruption, including bomb damage and changing priorities. Churchill's initial pause in carrier and capital-ship work is criticized as a decision later reversed when the character of the war became clearer.
Notable Point · 2:11:20-2:12:11
Treaty escalation and interrupted British capital-ship construction
Treaty escalation allowed larger designs, while wartime damage and changes in priorities delayed the ships already under construction.