The treaty criteria exempted naval vessels of 600 tons or less and larger vessels lacking specified combinations of heavy guns, torpedoes, high speed, armor, mines, or aircraft facilities. The argument is that these rules left ample legal room for motor torpedo boats, motor gunboats, sloops, and other useful small craft during the interwar years. Displacement limits constrained major warships but did not prevent a navy from building a deep pool of patrol, escort, and coastal-combat vessels.
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Treaty exemptions for small combatants
Article 8 of the London Naval Treaty left room for unlimited sub-600-ton craft and tightly defined larger auxiliaries, creating an opportunity Britain could have exploited earlier.