Inspector Pharaoh (@PyramidSkeem)

It's a little known fact that the Royal Navy and a rapidly expanding US Navy came very close to mutually hostile action during the late 1920s. The fact that the USA worked hard to undermine the commercial workings and stability of the British Empire, post World War One, is another piece of 20th C history that has been quietly covered over. Back in 1905, we British had set-up an alliance of convenience with Imperial Japan, after asking them to assume naval duties in the Far East (on our behalf) because the Royal Navy was already over-stretched globally. Following World War One, and with the UK effectively bankrupt, the USA attempted to usurp control of the high-seas from the Royal Navy (especially the Pacific Ocean) via the rapid building of new (and thus more modern) naval ships. During the late 1920s, this triggered a major dispute between the two nations because there were supposed to be agreed limits on what tonnage the major players could deploy. The UK's Admiralty stuck to the spirit of that diplomatic agreement, but the US Navy reneged ... looking to cynically gain advantage. This was the seed that eventually sprouted at Pearl Harbor.