Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:10:16-1:10:27

Could gun turrets survive treaty scrapping?

The treaty did not specify that turrets removed from scrapped ships had to be destroyed, leaving room to retain mountings or their components.

Arms ControlNaval GunsWarship ScrappingWashington Naval Treaty
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Question

Could gun turrets from ships scrapped under the treaty be retained?

Short answer

Yes; the treaty did not prescribe their fate, so complete mountings or dismantled components could be kept.

Notes

The Washington treaty did not state what had to happen to gun turrets removed from scrapped capital ships. The mountings could therefore be retained rather than destroyed with the hull. Even if a complete turret was impractical to store, it could be broken down into reusable components. Removing a ship from treaty totals could leave valuable naval equipment outside the disposal rule.