With hindsight, Britain might have kept building Hermes-sized carriers or negotiated a separate treaty tonnage pool for small decks. A threshold around 12,000 or 13,500 tons would have distinguished them from carriers permitted up to 27,000 tons. That arrangement could have prevented every escort-oriented hull from consuming the same scarce allowance as a much more capable fleet carrier. The proposal is explicitly counterfactual rather than a policy that was adopted. It illustrates how arms-limitation categories shape force structure by rewarding some designs and making others expensive in opportunity cost.
Notable Point · 1:00:15-1:01:43
A separate treaty category might have preserved small-carrier capacity
A hypothetical treaty allowance for carriers below roughly 12,000 or 13,500 tons could have protected small-deck construction from competition with full fleet carriers.