A flat submarine allowance for all major powers

The historical agreement gave major powers equal submarine tonnage, and the alternative retains that principle despite using ratios for surface fleets. Britain and the United States had already accepted equality, so the proposal concentrates on simplifying the allowance. Rounding 52,700 tons to 60,000 would permit thirty 2,000-ton boats or another combination of smaller submarines. The T-class example then distinguishes approximately 1,000 tons standard, 1,290 tons surfaced and almost 1,600 tons submerged. Those are different displacement measures and cannot be substituted freely when applying treaty limits. An account of a naval architect correcting a conference calculation shows how published figures can be misused when surfaced and standard displacement are treated as interchangeable. The ceiling is simple only if everyone also uses the same measurement basis.