Would completing Royal Navy infrastructure upgrades cancelled during the First World War change later battleship tonnage?
Short answerProbably not the treaty limits, but it would greatly expand what Britain could build, enlarge, modernize, and repair afterward.
NotesLegal treaty allowances mattered only if industry could exploit them. Larger docks and slips could support enlarged King George V designs, bigger Implacable-class carriers, and more frequent refits for ships such as Hood. Investment across the dominions would also spread repair capacity and reduce the small number of facilities able to accept the largest warships. The strategic payoff therefore appears in design freedom, construction tempo, and wartime resilience rather than a larger number written into a treaty.