My best case would be have them made into museum ships by 1938, so they don't get trashed in WWII.The USN some how gets congress to pay for 2 Tillman IV-2 battleships in 1918 and they survive WNT and WW2. What happens to them post war will we see them have a service life like the Iowas or scrapped in the late 40's early 50's?
... Japan gets locked into an arms race she can't afford and goes broke just for a start