Changing carrier limits mattered more than closing loopholes

Which loopholes in the interwar naval treaties should have been closed?

Rather than focus only on loopholes, the answer would loosen carrier rules so navies could build more and better flight decks.

The discussion begins from the problem that navies can ignore or reinterpret treaty rules, making a perfect closure of every loophole unrealistic. From an American perspective, water and armour treatment might be tightened, but Britain could reject changes that damaged its own requirements. The more useful intervention would be to permit greater carrier tonnage and larger conversion designs. That would improve ships such as Lexington and encourage more flight decks, turning the treaty from a constraint to a framework better aligned with naval aviation.