List of Dreadnought Battleships of The Royal Navy - Lion Class

Lion Class

During the Second London Naval Treaty of 1936, the upper limit for battleships was agreed by the powers attending. By 1938 concerns about the Japanese prompted Britain and America to raise the limits allowed to 45,000 long tons (46,000 t) and 16 in (41 cm) guns. The Admiralty had planned to scrap the ineffective Revenge class when the King George V ships entered service. These plans were soon changed, the Admiralty's new ambition was to raise a battle fleet of 20 ships, 15 of them to match the new standard, keeping the Revenge class until at least 1942. To meet this target the navy wanted three battleships added to the 1938 plans, but in the end only two got the go ahead and even then they had to use reserve slipways, normally only used in emergencies. At the same time it was identified that unless the 1938 ships were completed by 1942, the Royal Navy between 1940 and 1943 would be at a disadvantage fielding only twelve modern and eight older battleships against a combined German–Japanese fleet of twenty modern ships.