The Washington Treaty left a major opening below the capital-ship threshold. Any non-capital ship below 10,000 tons and armed with guns no larger than eight inches could be built without an aggregate tonnage ceiling. In this counterfactual, Britain produces a squadron of heavy cruisers each year and arrives at the 1930 conference with roughly eighty ships and far greater bargaining leverage. Whether the United States Congress would fund a matching programme, and how Japan would answer such a British lead, remain open questions. Sustained construction would also keep armour production and numerous shipyards active. Treaty design could therefore alter industrial readiness and bargaining power as well as fleet numbers.
Notable Point · 22:23-25:17
The Washington cruiser loophole and industrial capacity
Because the Washington Treaty did not cap cruiser totals, Britain could theoretically have built large numbers of 10,000-ton cruisers before London negotiations changed the rules.