HMS Prince of Wales was the second of five King George V class battleships to be built for the Royal Navy. She was to be named King Edward VIII, but as a result of the infamous abdication this was changed to Prince of Wales. She was laid down on 1 January 1937 when a number of treaties, including the Washington Navy Treaty and Treaty of London, constrained her design and construction.
The treaties were intended to stop a build-up of arms, as had happened prior to the War of 1914-18, by limiting the number and size of ships that any nation could built. Capital ships could be of no more than 35,000 tons and were limited to carrying 14-inch guns. While Britain adhered to these restriction, many other countries did not, but by the time this was realised it was too late to change the design of this class of battleship.
