Individual ship restrictions and aggregate fleet limits were different constraints. Article 11 restricted most non-capital warships to 10,000 tons, while Article 12 set an 8-inch gun ceiling outside the capital-ship category. The Washington framework left the combined tonnage of qualifying cruisers uncapped, so a navy could build as many as it could fund. Later London treaties introduced cumulative cruiser limits. In the scenario, the 10,000-ton boundary also provides the route to cruiser carriers outside the main carrier allowance. A small construction error is judged likely to be tolerated, while a displacement approaching 10,500 tons would become politically difficult to defend.
Chapter · 13:09-15:59
The 10,000-ton threshold opens an uncapped cruiser-carrier route
The Washington framework caps individual cruiser size without limiting total cruiser tonnage, making the 10,000-ton boundary central to the small-carrier scenario.