Roskill's sea-power history frames the uneasy interwar settlement

Roskill presents the interwar order as a chain of political bargains made in the hope that collective security would work. Treaty limits created difficult design choices, the end of the Anglo-Japanese alliance weakened Britain's western Pacific position, and austerity left the Admiralty struggling to prevent obsolescence. Bases also deteriorated while cruiser numbers fell below the needs of scattered trade routes. Clarke disputes Roskill's claim that aircraft and flotilla vessels had not exercised together in convoy defence, saying that some exercises did include that requirement.