The treaty definition turned on whether a sloop was designed to exceed 20 knots. Dr. Alex Clarke recalls accounts passed to him by people involved in removing turbine-gearing speed limiters, and explicitly distinguishes these accounts from written records. In those accounts, chief petty officers removed the restriction without asking an officer's permission. Engineering officers could recognise the change without receiving formal notification, leaving captains and the Admiralty without an official report.
Notable Point · 1:23:10-1:24:51
Sloop speed limits and informal engineering practice
Oral accounts describe chiefs removing sloop speed limiters while leaving officers without formal notification.