Paper parity becomes Congress's maximum

In the skit, the American navy argues that a treaty ceiling Britain can use as a minimum will become a maximum in Congress. Formal capital-ship equality may satisfy lawmakers on paper while leaving the fleet without the cruisers it needs. Its existing destroyers are also portrayed as too short-ranged for the missions expected of them. The complaint distinguishes headline tonnage parity from a balanced fleet able to operate across American distances. Treaty arithmetic therefore becomes a question of appropriations, ship types, and endurance.