A navy that wanted to escape the ceiling could conceal a much larger hull until construction made the truth impossible to hide. It might call the vessel a lightly protected battlecruiser, or present it for measurement before fitting the armour belt. Designers could also exploit water tanks as protection, turning an excluded consumable into part of the defensive scheme. Verification would therefore depend on rules capable of distinguishing genuine operating requirements from deliberate displacement evasions. Without the First World War as a recent warning about renewed great-power competition, governments had little shared incentive to punish cheating. The most likely result is rapid collapse.
Chapter · 1:14:28-1:18:07
Displacement evasions would erode the treaty
Builders could hide an oversized battleship behind category claims, incomplete armour, or water tanks used as protection, while governments lacked a strong reason to enforce the cap.