A windfall of 18-inch naval guns in 1914

What would Britain do if 48 proven 18-inch naval guns and a huge ammunition stock appeared at the start of the First World War?

It would build battleships and monitors for the guns, probably fielding about sixteen eight-gun capital ships while retaining many barrels as spares.

The weapons have to be allocated as a force rather than divided by the maximum possible number of hulls. Most could arm about sixteen eight-gun capital ships. A smaller group could equip twin-gun monitors. The remaining barrels would form a substantial reserve for replacement and maintenance. Spare-gun policy therefore matters almost as much as the headline number of new ships.