The 1936 Second London Naval Treaty imposed limits while British ministers were approving the cost of major rearmament. In this interpretation, a peace-seeking treaty could have avoided measures such as the 8,000-ton limit and restrictions on carriers and other ships. HMS Formidable was ordered in March 1937, laid down that June, launched in August 1939, and commissioned in November 1940. Even an urgent program needed years to deliver a carrier that was less complicated than a modern equivalent, exposing the operational cost of limits imposed late in the interwar period.
Notable Point · 7:30-9:19
The 1936 London treaty constrained an expected rearmament
Treaty limits are judged against the same government's knowledge that large-scale naval rearmament was already necessary.