Britain helped propose the 10,000-ton limit while expecting other powers to demand something larger. Accepting the ceiling could still have worked if the absence of an overall tonnage cap had allowed the Royal Navy to build enough cruisers. That logic depended on Treasury funding, political backing, and the use of Britain's construction infrastructure at scale. Orders repeatedly fell short, leaving the navy with each hull's compromises but without the quantity meant to compensate for them.
Notable Point · 45:36-47:04
Britain accepted the limit but never funded the numbers
The British proposal assumed that modest individual cruisers could be built in quantity, but political and Treasury support never delivered the planned fleet.