Peacetime ship figures circulated through treaty channels and public reference works that also supplied starting points for naval intelligence. Publication could give an approximate view of capability without disclosing every detail. The criticism is that a treaty reporting requirement does not by itself make each figure a complete account of the ship's actual condition. Deep-load displacement is preferred to standard displacement for this comparison, although neither figure is accepted without qualification. Published statistics remain useful when read as figures with a particular purpose and context.
Notable Point · 1:02:18-1:03:59
Published destroyer figures offer an incomplete picture
Treaty declarations and public ship tables require scrutiny because approximate capabilities and actual loads need not coincide.