Super-cruisers could reshape treaty bargaining

Would a nine-gun, 11-inch Deutschland have forced changes to the First London Naval Treaty?

It could have pushed negotiators toward a super-cruiser category, which would in turn affect battleship gun choices and Japanese industrial priorities.

An enlarged Deutschland-type cruiser would create a treaty problem as well as a design problem. An 18,000-ton super-cruiser category with 10- to 12-inch guns would weaken the case for 14-inch battleships and force navies to rethink gun limits. Extra Japanese super-cruiser construction could also overload the industrial capacity needed for Yamato and carrier completion.