Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Notable Point · 2:44-12:58

A 42,000-ton capital-ship ceiling

Using Hood and contemporary uncompleted designs as the benchmark, the proposed treaty allows 42,000-ton standard-displacement capital ships with 16-inch guns.

16-inch Guns18-inch GunsBattleship DesignCapital ShipsHawkins Class Heavy CruisersHMS FuriousHMS HoodKii Class BattleshipsNaval Arms ControlSouth Dakota Class Battleships (1920)Washington Naval Treaty
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Notes

The proposed 42,000-ton ceiling starts from ships already in service or under construction when the treaty was negotiated. Hood's listed standard displacement supplies the benchmark, while the cancelled South Dakota and Kii designs show the scale of contemporary capital-ship projects. The Hawkins-class cruiser precedent provides a comparison: the treaty rounded above that design to a 10,000-ton, 8-inch-gun limit. Applying the same approach to Hood would leave room for balanced capital ships. The 16-inch gun ceiling remains acceptable in the proposal because guns of that calibre were already in service. Furious's exceptional 18-inch armament is set aside as a precedent for ordinary battleships.