Why Dominion navies shared Britain's treaty allocation

The Commonwealth emerged through a long dominionization process rather than an overnight dismantling of empire. The Dominions were increasingly independent in domestic affairs, but foreign policy and naval defence remained tied to Britain. Washington therefore counted the Royal Navy and Dominion forces as one imperial fleet instead of granting each government a separate capital-ship allocation. Ships below 10,000 tons remained unrestricted, so the Dominions could legally expand cruiser and destroyer forces even while capital ships and carriers were controlled. HMAS Australia became the central problem because the United States insisted that its battlecruiser tonnage belonged inside Britain's total.