Hōshō as a British escort-carrier experiment in the 1920s

Which foreign design would give Britain a useful addition in the 1920s?

Clarke favors Hōshō as a small, obtainable carrier for escort experiments; Fleet initially proposes adapting Tosa to British battle-line requirements.

Fleet initially selects the Tosa design, proposing British alterations to produce a roughly 25-knot battleship that could operate with the Queen Elizabeths. He considers Amagi too lightly built and armored for the same purpose, while acknowledging that Tosa would fall short of British G3 and N3 designs. Clarke redirects the exercise toward a ship Britain could actually obtain under treaty conditions. His choice is Hōshō, a purpose-built carrier of about 7,500 tons carrying around 15 aircraft. In the discussion's interpretation of the treaty rules, her small size would avoid consuming the main carrier allowance. A British version would offer an early experiment in escort-carrier work. The disagreement distinguishes a desirable capital-ship design from a smaller addition with a practical peacetime role.