The minimum practical interwar fleet carrier

Did Britain consider building a carrier below 10,000 tons to exploit the Washington Naval Treaty?

No compelling need remained after Argus and Hermes; experience suggested that about 15,000 tons was the practical minimum.

Operational experience set a practical design floor. Britain had already operated Argus and Hermes, so it did not need a Ryūjō-style experiment to learn the penalties of a cramped hull. The Royal Navy judged that ships below roughly 15,000 tons could not provide the carrier capability it wanted. A treaty exemption would therefore be useful only if it covered a hull large enough to be operationally worthwhile.