Industrial standing and unused fishing-vessel conversions

Japan was the world's third-largest naval power in practical terms as well as under the treaty system. Its naval construction infrastructure in the 1920s and 1930s is judged much larger than that of Germany and Italy combined. That standing makes the small number of completed escorts a question of choices as well as absolute capacity. A related treaty argument claims that ships below 10,000 tons had been unrestricted before the London Naval Treaty, although the date named in this passage is unclear in the captions. Merchant-ship conversion plans for carriers show that the navy could prepare commercial hulls for mobilisation. A similarly prepared pool of fishing vessels suitable for conversion into escorts is the proposed missed opportunity.