Ryujo was Japan's attempt to fit a useful carrier below 10,000 tons. At 549 feet long and only 61 feet wide, she combined a narrow beam with very low freeboard and a top-heavy appearance. Those compromises kept weight down but produced a ship that looked unstable, even though she operated quite well. The treaty limit is visible in Ryujo's proportions rather than remaining an accounting abstraction.
Notable Point · 5:40-6:30
Ryujo and the cost of minimizing carrier displacement
Ryujo illustrates how squeezing a carrier beneath treaty thresholds could produce a top-heavy ship with very low freeboard.