The proposed system allows 50,000-ton capital ships, 35,000-ton carriers, and cruisers potentially reaching 20,000 tons. The categories would regulate individual hulls while leaving every navy free to build as many as its finances and industry allowed. Britain and America could use that arrangement to preserve their advantage without winning an explicit ratio dispute against Russia, Japan, France, and Italy. Cruiser gun limits might settle at eight, nine-point-two, or ten inches, with the Hawkins lineage offering a British starting point. Clear numerical categories are easier to negotiate and enforce than finely graduated cumulative allowances among many rivals.
Chapter · 2:06:02-2:09:29
Cruiser and carrier limits in a qualitative treaty
Removing cumulative tonnage leaves the conference to define maximum ship sizes and gun calibers for carriers, cruisers, and other warships.