The familiar 10,000-ton and 8-inch-gun restrictions sat alongside less discussed treaty articles. Those provisions also constrained peace-time preparation of merchant ships for armament, construction for foreign powers, and transfer of warships between navies. They required disclosure of foreign construction and restricted a belligerent from taking over a warship being built in its yards for another power. Together, the rules shaped naval industrial options, the future utility of merchant cruisers, and the dimensions of new warships.
Chapter · 11:43-14:31
Washington Treaty rules beyond 10,000 tons
The treaty’s cruiser limits sat alongside rules on gun calibre, merchant-ship conversion, foreign construction, and transfer between navies.