A chat discussion returns to how much the naval treaties drove carrier development. HMS Hermes served as a test bed, and navies already had plans for larger aviation ships. The Lexington conversion was announced in March 1922 with a full modern mock-up of the proposed design. That level of preparation implies substantial work before the public announcement, complicating any claim that the carrier's form was improvised only after the treaty settlement.
Notable Point · 1:27:37-1:28:24
Carrier conversion planning was already technically mature
HMS Hermes and the detailed Lexington conversion mock-up show that carrier experimentation and large-ship planning were already well advanced when treaty arrangements were being settled.