Treaty battleship

A treaty battleship was a battleship built in the 1920s or 1930s under the terms of one of a number of international treaties governing naval construction. [Sumrall, p.25-8] Many of these ships played an active role in the Second World War, but none survived long after it.

The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, designed to prevent a continuing battleship arms race, laid down strict restrictions on battleships and battlecruisers. The Treaty limited the numbers and tonnage of battleships, scrapping most of the ships then under construction and a number of older battleships. New ships could only be constructed to replace the surviving ships after they retired after 20 years service. Furthermore, any new ship would be limited to guns of 16-inch calibre and 35,000 tons displacement. These limits were reiterated by the London Naval Treaty of 1930, and the Second London Naval Treaty of 1936 futher limited guns to 14-inch calibre. The Second London Treaty contained a clause which allowed construction of battleships 16-inch guns if any of the signatories of the Washington Treaty failed to ratify the new one. It contained an additional clause which allowed displacement and armament restrictions to be relaxed if non-signatories built vessels more powerful than the treaty allowed. [Breyer, p.71-3] [ [http://www.navweaps.com/index_tech/tech-089_London_Treaty_1936.htm Second London Naval Treaty] ]

The first treaty battleships were the two British ships of the "Nelson" class, which were begun in 1922 and launched in 1925. These ships were exceptions to the 'building holiday' enforced by the treaty; they were allowed because the Royal Navy had no existing ships with 16-inch guns, while both the U.S. Navy and Japan had 16-inch ships already in commission which would be allowed to continue under the terms of the Treaty. The "Nelson" class solved the problem posed by the new weight restriction by placing all the heavy guns forward of the superstructure in three triple turrets, hence saving weight on the armour around them. [Breyer, p.176]

Virtually all battleships built subsequently obeyed the treaty limits. The Washington Naval Treaty was signed by the USA, UK, Japan, France and Italy - all the principal naval powers. At various stages Italy and France opted out of further negotiations; however, their economic resources did not permit the development of super-battleships. Germany, while not permitted any battleships by the Treaty of Versailles, developed one in the 1930s; this was legitimised by the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, which placed Germany under the same legal limits as Britain. [ Breyer, p.74] Only Japan, which opted out of the Treaty system in 1934, actually built mammoth treaty-busting battleships - the "Yamato" class [Sumrall, p.29] . A number of designs, never finished, broke the treaty limits; the German H-class were scrapped on the outbreak of war, while the U.S. "Montana" class were cancelled before being laid down.

Treaty battleships were technically superior to their predecessors. Naval technology developed in the 1920s and 1930s provided improved steel, better guns, more efficient engines, and more effective protection against torpedos. The displacement limit also encouraged naval designers to think creatively about minimising displacement, meaning that the treaty battleships significantly increased their performance.

References

ources

*Breyer, Siegfried: "Battleships and Battlecruisers of the World, 1905-1970". Macdonald and Jane's, London, 1973. ISBN 0365-04191-3
*Sumrall, Robert: "The Battleship and Battlecruiser", in Gardiner, R: "The Eclipse of the Big Gun". Conway Maritime, London. ISBN 0-85177-607-8.

External links

* [http://www.chuckhawks.com/treaty_battleships.htm Run-down of the Treaty Battleships]