Article 4 focuses on carriers of 10,000 tons or less carrying guns above 6.1 inches, then repeats restrictions on acquisition and construction. The repetition made small-carrier projects appear politically risky even where a narrow legal reading might permit them. Under the Washington Treaty, carriers below 10,000 tons had sat outside the national carrier allowance. The London rules brought them into the tonnage accounting, so a small carrier now consumed scarce allowance even if its construction remained technically possible. Article 5 standardized the carrier gun ceiling at 6.1 inches.
Chapter · 26:33-29:57
Why the 10,000-ton rule chilled small-carrier construction
Repeated restrictions around small carriers and guns created enough ambiguity to deter navies and their treasuries from using the category.