Britain and Japan favored more destroyer tonnage, the United States was ambivalent, and the Mediterranean powers resisted it. French and Italian designs were already escalating speed and performance. Both navies therefore faced the cost of sustaining an existing qualitative contest. A larger allowance threatened to turn that competition into a simultaneous race for quantity.
Notable Point · 39:12-40:21
Mediterranean navies feared a second destroyer race
France and Italy already competed for faster, higher-quality destroyers and had reason to resist adding a costly race in numbers.