Cruisers as the empire's presence fleet

The Washington rules capped the size of each cruiser but did not cap how many a navy could build. Britain normally kept its expensive, training-intensive battle fleet concentrated near the infrastructure that could support it, while cruisers showed the flag and covered imperial commitments overseas. Before the First World War, Britain maintained extensive cruiser construction while Germany sacrificed cruiser building to sustain its dreadnought program. The London treaty's cumulative tonnage limit therefore created the much-discussed cruiser gap between the missions assigned and the hulls available. Admiralty planners could regard a politician's money-saving limit as a measure that weakened deterrence and made conflict more likely.