A navy could remain below the Article 8 limits by keeping a ship's declared design speed under 20 knots and omitting its torpedo launchers in peacetime. A hull could still be designed with the space, structural provision, and trained destroyer personnel needed to add those launchers quickly during war. The 2,000-ton ceiling left ample room for a safer and more useful vessel carrying only the permitted gun battery. Japan instead pursued immediate torpedo-boat performance in much smaller hulls, producing the stability problems seen in the Chidori class. The passage links treaty evasion to procurement choices and asks why a legal workaround was pursued in a form that endangered crews.
Notable Point · 18:08-20:26
A slower convertible design could have avoided the treaty trap
Japan could have built roomier treaty-exempt vessels for rapid wartime conversion instead of overloading tiny peacetime torpedo boats.