Naval treaties left room for additional sloops within specified design limits. The limits given here were a design speed no higher than 20 knots, displacement no greater than 2,000 tons, and restrictions on armament. A completed vessel could exceed its intended speed without having been designed above the limit. Such ships offered another way to invest in the fleet if funding was available.
Notable Point · 12:45-13:12
Treaty-exempt sloops offered another route for naval investment
Sloops within the stated speed, displacement, and armament limits could be built in unrestricted numbers, making funding a separate question from treaty ceilings.