Origin
Orion and her sisters were laid down at a time when the British Liberal Government was pledged by their election manifesto to reduce the scale of spending on armaments. Information from Naval Attachés in Germany produced information suggesting that Germany was building dreadnoughts at a rate which, if not countered, would lead to the German battle fleet approaching the size of the British. At that time there was in existence a policy known as the "two power standard", which called for the British battle-fleet to be at all times at least ten percent stronger than the two next strongest naval powers. The German plans as reported to the Government were seen as clearly breaching this policy. The First Lord of the Admiralty, Reginald McKenna, was therefore able to force his plans for the Orion class dreadnoughts through Parliament; with the support of the Prime Minister, H.H. Asquith, and over the objections of David Lloyd-George and Winston Churchill.
Read more about this topic: HMS Orion (1910)
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