Was the United States unusual in limiting warship size around the Panama Canal?
Short answerYes. American inter-ocean movement made Panama central, while Britain planned a different route through Suez and imperial bases.
NotesAmerican fleets needed to shift between the Atlantic and Pacific, so Panama imposed a direct dimensional requirement on US designs. British Pacific plans followed a different route through the Mediterranean, Suez, the Indian Ocean, Singapore, and the South China Sea. That route depended on imperial bases and created different range and support assumptions. British ships therefore did not need to accept the same canal limits. Strategic geography turns into naval-architecture requirements.