…With the Great War over the Navies of the World were able to focus on the longer term, rather than the immediate needs of the war, subject to certain limitations. Germany under the straight jacket of Versailles was incapable of major changes for years. Russia still had a civil war to fight, with her capital units sitting dockside. France and Italy were beggared and thoughts of completing units delayed by the war were immediately dismissed on financial grounds. Britain while not as destitute as France and Italy still had to accept that financial limitations would mean lean times for the Royal Navy. Only the United States and Japan were truly able to think about the long term, not that the war had stopped Japan from doing so anyways…
…By war’s end both the United States and Japan were building or had ordered four 16” armed battleships. Japan however had during the war ordered an additional 4 battlecruisers of the Amagi class, with 10 16” guns. This, along with the possession of 10 16” guns on Kaga and Tosa rather than 8 on the American Battleships, left the USN at a potentially large disadvantage in modern units. Thus President Marshall, as part of his desire to carry out Wilson’s intentions, was successfully able to lobby Congress to finally order the remaining 12 capital ships of the 1916 program in the fall of 1919, along with 6 large scout cruisers to replace the old armored cruisers as station flagships and the conversion of a second collier into an aircraft carrier.
The Battleships of the South Dakota class and Battlecruisers of the Lexington class had both seen significant changes since authorization. Both classes had grown to nearly 45,000 tons, held there mainly be a desire to avoid spooking congress. The South Dakota class gained a knot of speed, lost the 600 ton gyrostabilizer, torpedo tubes and 4 6” secondaries and gained 4 additional AA guns and improvements to her TDS and deck armor. The Lexington class lost 3 knots of speed, her torpedo tubes and two 6” guns, and gained substantially increased amounts of belt and deck armor.
The Scout cruisers were a 12,000 ton, 34 knot design with 8 8” guns and well protected against 8” fire…
…The ordering of 12 new Capital ships with 16” guns moved the shoe to the other foot, now it was Japan who looked to be facing a deficit in the number of modern ships. The IJN and the Japanese government knew that they could not afford to match the United States in pure numbers. However they had determined that a fleet 70% that of the USN would be sufficient, thus they needed 12 ships for parity, 16 was desired as a number to account for American follow-ons to the South Dakota and Lexington class. In early 1920 the Diet authorized the additional ships, 4 uparmored battleship versions of the Amagi class as the Kii class, and 4 18” armed, 30 knot, 50,000 ton super battlecrusiers as the projected #13 class. This made the Eight-Eight fleet a reality once more…
…The passage of the Eight-Eight Fleet did not go without a response in the United States. The USN proposed that starting in FY ’23 a five-year building program similar to the 1916 program be put into place. The USN desired for 6 Battlecruisers, 8 Battleships and 2 large Aircraft Carriers, along with 9 large scout cruisers, 9 light cruisers, 10 destroyer leaders, 20 destroyers, 30 submarines, 12 gunboats and 20 auxiliaries. The Battlecrusiers were to be a 55,000 ton design, only capable of 30 knots but with armor superior to the British Admirals and 12 16” guns. The Battleships were to be split between 4 48,000 ton slightly improved South Dakotas, with turreted secondaries and 26 knots of speed, and 4 substantially improved 18” armed vessels of 52,000 tons with greater armor.
With the election of President Wood the Navy presented the plan to him. However to win his support they offered to trade certain parts of the plan for enlargements to the army budget, if the whole plan was approved by Congress and Wood’s army budget was not. This middle case plan dropped 2 of the 18” Battleships, 3 large scout cruisers, 10 destroyers, 6 submarines 2 gunboats and 2 auxiliaries.
A minimum requirement of 4 16” battleships, 4 Battlecruisers, 2 large aircraft carriers, 3 large scout cruisers, 6 light cruisers, 10 destroyer leaders, 15 submarines, 6 gunboats and 12 auxiliaries was established. This was what the USN though necessary to keep an adequate lead over Japan and discharge its current requirements. It would be a variant of this plan that was ultimately approved by Congress in 1922…
…Britain looked on the race between the United States and Japan with alarm. Both powers were ordering 16” ships when Britain had none on order. Furthermore ship size had increased from just over 30,000 tons to almost 45,000 tons in the new orders, with rumors of super battlecruisers of 50,000 and 55,000 tons in the works. The Royal Navy was afraid of being left in the dust. Only the 4 Battlecruisers of the Admiral class promised to be relevant in this new world, everything else they had was obsolescent if not obsolete.
Overtures to join this race were firmly rebuffed by the Treasury. Funding would be found for 4 battleships to replace wartime losses, with a possibility of another pair of battleships and a pair of battlecruisers in the second half of the decade. This was considered it as far as the treasury was concerned, any further capital ships would require a sea change in public opinion or deep cuts to other parts of the Royal Navy. Almost as importantly those capital ships would be limited to 50,000 tons or less, the most current British naval infrastructure could handle without undue difficulty, as the money was not there for expansion.
Almost as important was the developing aircraft carrier race. Japan had laid down a purpose built one, the Houshou, and was planning a second preliminarily named the Eishou. The United States had one collier conversion under construction, another authorized and was planning two large purpose-built vessels of almost 40,000 tons. Britain for her part had a conversion of the Italian liner Conte Rosso, HMS Argus, two cruiser conversions, the 10,000 ton Cavendish and 8,000 ton Egeria and the purpose-built 11,000 ton Hermes on the way. Plans to convert the large light cruiser Courageous foundered on the costs of repairing her structural damage from the last battle of the war. While Britain might be able to afford more carriers in the mid-term, it would only be a few more and not particularly large ones.
Thus it behooved Britain that if she could not win the coming naval races, to ensure that they were not run…
…With the war ended Chile was allowed to purchase back her two Almirante Latorre class Battleships, along with the two surviving Almirante Lynch class destroyers. The possession of two superdreadnought battleships in some way made the Chilean Navy the most powerful in South America, being superior to the pair of 12” Dreadnoughts operated by Argentina and Brazil. Not wanting to be outgunned both sides looked to try and acquire another battleship.
Brazil went to her traditional naval supplier of Great Britain. Some thought was made on restarting Riachuelo, however the Brazilian government balked at the cost. Britain was however willing to offer them their choice of 10 of the Royal Navy’s dreadnought capital ships. Focus quickly turned to the most powerful of the ten, HMS Erin and HMS Agincourt. HMS Erin’s 10 13.5” gun armament was judged weaker than the 10 14” guns carried by the Chilean ships, whereas HMS Agincourt’s 14 12” gun armament was considered equal or better by the Brazilian Navy. Agincourt also had the advantage that Brazil already used 12” guns, and that she was perfectly adapted to the Brazilian Navy, having been ordered to Brazilian specs as the Rio de Janeiro. Thus Brazil agreed to purchase her, for less than her incomplete hull was sold to the Ottomans for.
Argentina meanwhile briefly considered exercising her option for a third American built battleship, but the American yards were full of their own ships. However her traditional naval supplier of Italy approached her with an offer. Italy had started building 4 15” armed 31,000 ton battleships of the Francesco Caracciolo class during the war. The needs of the war had prevented their completion, but work had already progressed to a degree. Completing Francesco Caracciolo would cost less than building a new ship from scratch and end up with a vessel far superior to the Chilean ships. Thus Argentina agreed to buy and complete her as Veinticinco de Mayo, with an option put out for her sister Cristoforo Colombo…
…Flush from the glory at Kandira the Hellenic Navy looked for a replacement to the armored cruiser Georgios Averhof as their flagship. Proposals to complete the battleships Salamis or Vasilefs Konstantinos were not considered due to the fact that materials for both ships had been cannibalized during the war, thus resulting the cost of doing so too great. The Hellenic Navy thus turned to Britain to see if they could get a used capital ship at a reasonable cost, alongside buying back the two cruisers and four destroyers Britain had compulsorily purchased from them during the war. Britain for her part had a non-standard battleship that she was looking to get rid of, and an agreement was quickly made to purchase one her. Thus HMS Erin became HS Nika, named after the recent victory against the Turks…
…The Great War had been very disruptive to Spain’s building program. The third of the Espana class battleships had taken until 1920 to complete due to delays and the three larger battleships of the Reina Victoria Eugenia class had to be cancelled due to inability to acquire key materials from abroad. With the end of the war Spain’s neutrality had left her in a position to afford new construction. A plan for four 30,000-ton battlecruisers was considered to replace the three cancelled 25,000-ton battleships. This was ruled as too expensive.
However talks with France had produced an alternative. France had found itself unable to afford the completion of its five Normandie class battleships, but certain items had been ordered. Among these were the quad 340mm gun turrets. France proposed a discount sale of these weapons to arm new Spanish construction. Plans were thus made for three 28,000-ton battlecruisers with two turrets each. Realities with the Cortes soon made it two 26,000-ton ships, with the turrets both located forward to save weight. The outbreak of the Rif War would delay the completion of the Castila and Aragon to 1931…
-Excerpt from Naval History Between the Wars, Harper & Brothers, New York, 2007