Super-cruiser loopholes in the Washington treaty

How much advantage could Britain take from a Washington treaty allowing 27,000-ton, 13.5-inch super-cruisers?

A great deal: the category could absorb existing large cruisers and create strong incentives to exploit displacement, armor, and gun-calibre loopholes.

Renown and Repulse would be immediate candidates to count against the new category rather than capital-ship tonnage. Armor and displacement definitions would be tested, while gun limits could encourage rearming or politically convenient exceptions. The resulting ships would blur the line between battlecruisers, fast capital ships, and nominal treaty cruisers.