British armoured cruisers grew into battlecruisers until they became too costly to provide in the numbers needed for fleet reconnaissance. Their size also made ordinary scouting duties increasingly awkward. The Royal Navy restarted with small cruisers before wartime demands for endurance drove displacement upward again. In the 1936 argument, the 9,800-ton Hawkins class helped set the Washington Treaty's 10,000-ton, eight-inch cruiser ceiling. An alternative limit based on a 7,500-ton cruiser with six-inch guns might have spared navies much of the subsequent expense.
Chapter · 2:43:17-2:45:32
How cruiser growth reduced reconnaissance value
Cruiser growth raised costs, left too few hulls for fleet scouting, and helped lock an expensive type into treaty rules.