Jeune École-era investment left French shipbuilding infrastructure roughly half a generation behind in pre-dreadnoughts and a generation behind in dreadnoughts. France then accepted naval parity with Italy despite having a globe-spanning empire and more widely dispersed commitments. The Washington system allowed France to build cruisers in quantity, and France also avoided London's cumulative cruiser tonnage limits. French designers recognized that treaty standard displacement described a peacetime condition rather than a wartime load. Even so, the navy never obtained enough active hulls to cover all of its overseas responsibilities. There were 23 cruisers by the outbreak of the Second World War, with several inherited ships out of commission. The available treaty cruisers had to combine combat, policing, reconnaissance, presence, and imperial defence. Fitting that mission set into a 10,000-ton ship forced competition among armour, speed, endurance, and armament. Treaty permission to build more ships did not supply the political continuity or industrial capacity needed to deliver them.
Chapter · 21:21-27:28
French cruisers carry a global mission on treaty displacement
French treaty cruisers struggle to combine combat, policing, reconnaissance, and worldwide presence within a limited number of 10,000-ton hulls.