The treaty allowance could favor Renown-class carrier conversions

How would Britain use the Washington Treaty's additional 3,000-ton allowance for carrier conversions if conventional 1915-1916 battlecruisers existed?

Britain could use the same nominal allowance as the United States, but might convert Renown and Repulse rather than newer conventional battlecruisers and accept the same convenient tonnage accounting used for Lexington.

The 3,000-ton allowance applied to treaty carrier conversions generally, even though the Lexington class made especially visible use of it. Britain could declare a converted ship to meet the same nominal limit while avoiding close scrutiny of actual displacement, just as the powers tolerated American accounting. If newer conventional battlecruisers existed, the Royal Navy might preserve them for global presence and convert Renown and Repulse instead. Their roughly 27,600-ton starting displacement would support a credible claim that the finished carriers remained near the 35,000-ton ceiling.