The year is 1935. You are the Third Sea Lord, the Controller of the Navy, who has overall control of procurement for the Royal Navy. The battleship building holiday, put in place by the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, and extended by the 1930 London Treaty, will come to an end next year. The Royal Navy needs new battleships, and this is your chance to design them.
There are some constraints you’ll need to consider. The Second London Treaty, being negotiated right now, looks like it’s going to limit battleship sizes to 35,000 tons. It’s also going to limit the maximum size of their armament to 14 inches. However, under an ‘Escalator Clause’, if either Japan or Italy refuse to sign by 1937, this can be increased to 16 inch guns. The British government is strongly committed to the treaty system, so breaching it will require the expenditure of a lot of political capital. The other problem you face is that most of the Royal Navy’s battleships are old, with ten of the twelve available ships being pre-WWI designs. You need to build new ships quickly, as every other navy is going to be building them too.
To start with, you need to determine your overarching plan. Your available options are:
a) Start planning immediately, on the current Treaty proposals. You will be limited to 14in guns and a 35,000 ton weight limit. This will be the fastest approach, but risks you losing out if the Escalator Clause is invoked.
b) Assume the Escalator Clause will be invoked, and plan accordingly. You will still be limited to 35,000 tons, but may use up to 16in guns. This is a risk; if the Escalator Clause isn’t needed, then you’ll have to redesign your ships, causing a major delay.
c) Ignore the treaty system altogether. You will be limited only by the limits of British shipbuilding and its armament industry. This is politically risky; the government (and public opinion) is firmly behind the naval treaties. If you can’t build political support for your plans, then all your plans may come to naught.
What do you choose?
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We need those ships now! Damn the 16″ guns, full speed ahead.
(A)
Hoping the escalator clause is invoked, let the world see the might of the Royal Navy.
(B)
C) The Washington Naval Treaty was a disaster, allowing British naval policy to be dictated by America’s piddling needs. The vast British Empire needs ships, and lots of them!
C. A silly piece of signed paper is no match for 18 inch guns
I cancel the project and invest in the Fleet Air Arm, Battleships were a waste of money in WW2!
B, bigger guns go BOOOM