and to abandon the British alliance with Japan.

This treaty limited the number and size of battleships that each major nation could possess, and required Britain to accept parity with the U.S. Faced with the prospect of a naval arms race against Great Britain and Japan, which would in turn have led to a possible Pacific war, the United States was keen to conclude the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. The inter-war period saw the battleship subjected to strict international limitations to prevent a costly arms race breaking out. The capital ships of the Royal Navy and the German Imperial Navy did come into contact on occasions, notably in the Battle of Jutland, but there was no decisive naval battle where one fleet came out the victor. The majority of the Royal Navy's strength was deployed at home in the Grand Fleet, with the primary aim of drawing the German High Seas Fleet into an engagement. The Royal Navy at the start of the First World War was the largest navy in the world due, in the most part, to The Naval Defence Act 1889 formalising the adoption of the ' two-power standard' which called for the navy to maintain a number of battleships at least equal to the combined strength of the next two largest navies. Germany, France, the Russian Empire, Japan, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and the United States all began dreadnought programmes second-rank powers including the Ottoman Empire, Argentina, Brazil, and Chile commissioned dreadnoughts to be built in British and American shipyards. Possession of modern battleships was not only vital to naval power, but also represented a nation's standing in the world. The launch of Dreadnought in 1906 prompted an arms race with major strategic consequences, as countries built their own dreadnoughts. In 1907, before the revolution in design brought about by HMS Dreadnought of 1906, the United Kingdom had 62 battleships in commission or building, a lead of 26 over France and 50 over the German Empire. This is a list of dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. HMS Benbow leads a line of three battleships.

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