One participant treats treaty restrictions as effectively dead by 1937, while the reply stresses that the British government still hoped to rebuild the treaty system. That hope is placed through 1938 and into March 1939, leaving little time for major changes before war. The proposed design consequence is that abandoning the limits earlier could have enlarged the Illustrious class toward the Implacable design. Even in early 1939, the expectation described here was of war in the coming years, with 1942 still in mind, rather than certainty of war that September.
Notable Point · 1:08:41-1:10:19
Why British naval treaty limits still mattered in 1937
Continued hopes of reviving naval treaties are used to explain why British carrier designs still observed limits after other powers had weakened the system.