In this account, political leaders deliberately kept naval officers at a distance because operational questions complicated their preferred settlement. Naval professionals warned that restricting cruisers and destroyers alongside capital ships could produce an unbalanced fleet unable to meet presence missions. This moment is useful for understanding arms control as a civil-military policy problem, not merely a negotiation over tonnage tables. Excluding specialists removed the people most likely to test whether political promises about peace could become a workable replacement cycle and fleet plan.
Notable Point · 6:05-9:22
Keeping naval professionals outside the treaty room
Treaty leaders sidelined naval objections about replacing worn ships and balancing capital ships with cruisers, destroyers, and global presence forces.