page_title: Washington Naval Treaty
section_title: Effects
hierarchical_section_title: Washington Naval Treaty / Effects
caption_attribution_description: English: Scatter graph of the design displacement and month laid down (or planned) of all capital ship (battleship and battlecruiser) classes for 6 leading naval nations from 1905 to 1945, showing the impact of the Washington Naval Treaty. Data is taken from Breyer, Siegfried (1973). Battleships and Battlecruisers of the World, 1905–1970. London: Macdonald and Jane's. ISBN&#160;0-356-04191-3. Data prepared in Microsoft Excel and then finishing touches added in GIMP. Français&#160;: Graphique montrant le déplacement des navires, au moment de leur conception, de toutes les classes de navires capitaux (cuirassés et croiseurs), pour 6 nations navales dominates, de 1905 à 1945, et montrant l'impact du Traité de Washington de 1922. Les données viennent de Breyer, Siegfried (1973). Battleships and Battlecruisers of the World, 1905–1970. London: Macdonald and Jane's. ISBN&#160;0-356-04191-3. Données mises en formes avec Microsoft Excel et graphique retouché avec GIMP.
context_page_description: The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was a treaty signed during 1922 among the major nations that had won World War I, which agreed to prevent an arms race by limiting naval construction. It was negotiated at the Washington Naval Conference, held in Washington, D.C., from November 1921 to February 1922, and it was signed by the governments of Great Britain, the United States, France, Italy, and Japan. It limited the construction of battleships, battlecruisers and aircraft carriers by the signatories. The numbers of other categories of warships, including cruisers, destroyers and submarines, were not limited by the treaty, but those ships were limited to 10,000 tons displacement each.
  The treaty was concluded on February 6, 1922. Ratifications of that treaty were exchanged in Washington on August 17, 1923, and it was registered in the League of Nations Treaty Series on April 16, 1924.
  Later naval arms limitation conferences sought additional limitations of warship building. The terms of the Washington treaty were modified by the London Naval Treaty of 1930 and the Second London Naval Treaty of 1936.
context_section_description: The treaty marked the end of a long period of increases of battleship construction. Many ships then being constructed were scrapped or converted into aircraft carriers. Treaty limits were respected and then extended by the London Naval Treaty of 1930. It was not until the mid-1930s that navies began to build battleships once again, and power and size of new battleships began to increase once again. The Second London Naval Treaty of 1936 sought to extend the Washington Treaty limits until 1942, but in the absence of Japan or Italy, it was largely ineffective.
  There were fewer effects on cruiser building. While the treaty specified 10,000 tons and 8-inch guns as the maximum size of a cruiser, that was also the minimum size cruiser that any navy was willing to build. The treaty began a building competition of 8-inch, 10,000 ton "treaty cruisers", which gave further cause for concern. Subsequent naval treaties sought to address this, by limiting cruiser, destroyer and submarine tonnage.
  Unofficial effects of the treaty included the end of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. It was not part of the Washington Treaty in any way, but the American delegates had made it clear they would not agree to the treaty unless the UK ended its alliance with the Japanese.
caption: The treaty arrested the continuing upward trend of battleship size and halted new construction entirely for more than a decade.
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