Washington Naval Treaty
Encyclopedia
Arms race
The term arms race, in its original usage, describes a competition between two or more parties for the best armed forces. Each party competes to produce larger numbers of weapons, greater armies, or superior military technology in a technological escalation...
that had begun after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
between various International power
International Power
International Power PLC is an international electricity generator formed in 2000 by the demerger of National Power. It is headquartered at Senator House, 85 Queen Victoria Street in the City of London...
s, each of which had significant naval fleets
Naval fleet
A fleet, or naval fleet, is a large formation of warships, and the largest formation in any navy. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land....
. The treaty was agreed at the Washington Naval Conference
Washington Naval Conference
The Washington Naval Conference also called the Washington Arms Conference, was a military conference called by President Warren G. Harding and held in Washington from 12 November 1921 to 6 February 1922. Conducted outside the auspices of the League of Nations, it was attended by nine nations...
, which was held in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
from November 1921 to February 1922, and was signed by representatives of the five treaty
Treaty
A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...
nations on 6 February 1922. It limited the naval armaments of its five signatories, all of whom possessed "Big Gun fleet
Naval fleet
A fleet, or naval fleet, is a large formation of warships, and the largest formation in any navy. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land....
s" —fleets and task forces organized around battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s and battle cruisers: the United States of America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
, the French Third Republic
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
, and the Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
.
The terms of the treaty were modified by the London Naval Treaty
London Naval Treaty
The London Naval Treaty was an agreement between the United Kingdom, the Empire of Japan, France, Italy and the United States, signed on April 22, 1930, which regulated submarine warfare and limited naval shipbuilding. Ratifications were exchanged in London on October 27, 1930, and the treaty went...
of 1930 and the Second London Naval Treaty
Second London Naval Treaty
The Second London Naval Disarmament Conference opened in London, the United Kingdom, on 9 December 1935. It resulted in the Second London Naval Treaty which was signed on 25 March 1936.- Description :...
of 1936. By the time of the latter, Japan had declared it would no longer abide by the terms of the treaty and Italy was secretly disregarding it. Germany was never affected by the Washington or London treaties, but its naval construction in all classes of warships was severely limited under the punitive terms of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
, the peace treaty
Peace treaty
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a state of war between the parties...
that ended World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Background
In the aftermath of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
had the world's largest and most powerful navy, followed closely by the United States and more distantly by Japan. All three embarked upon large programs of new capital ships (battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s and battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
s). In 1920, the United States had declared an aim to produce a navy "second to none", and had already laid down keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
s for five battleships and four battlecruisers. Japan was at the start of its 8:8 program
Eight-eight fleet
The was a Japanese naval strategy formulated for the development of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the first quarter of the 20th century, which laid down that the Japanese navy should include eight first-class battleships and eight armoured cruisers or battlecruisers.-History and development:The...
(eight battleships and eight battlecruisers). In early 1921 the British finalized the design and ordered four very large battlecruisers (G3 battlecruiser
G3 battlecruiser
The G3 battlecruisers were a class of battlecruisers planned by the Royal Navy after the end of World War I in response to naval expansion programs by the United States and Japan. The four ships of this class would have been larger, faster and more heavily-armed than any existing battleship...
s) with plans for four matching battleships (N3 battleships) to follow. This burst of capital ship construction kindled fears of a new naval arms race
Arms race
The term arms race, in its original usage, describes a competition between two or more parties for the best armed forces. Each party competes to produce larger numbers of weapons, greater armies, or superior military technology in a technological escalation...
, similar to the Anglo-German dreadnought
HMS Dreadnought (1906)
HMS Dreadnought was a battleship of the British Royal Navy that revolutionised naval power. Her entry into service in 1906 represented such a marked advance in naval technology that her name came to be associated with an entire generation of battleships, the "dreadnoughts", as well as the class of...
race leading up to World War I.
Terms
| Tonnage limitations | ||
| Country | Capital ships | Aircraft carriers |
|---|---|---|
| British Empire | 525,000 tons Long ton Long ton is the name for the unit called the "ton" in the avoirdupois or Imperial system of measurements, as used in the United Kingdom and several other Commonwealth countries. It has been mostly replaced by the tonne, and in the United States by the short ton... (533,000 tonnes) |
135,000 tons (137,000 tonnes) |
| United States | 525,000 tons (533,000 tonnes) |
135,000 tons (137,000 tonnes) |
| Japan | 315,000 tons (320,000 tonnes) |
81,000 tons (82,000 tonnes) |
| France | 175,000 tons (178,000 tonnes) |
60,000 tons (61,000 tonnes) |
| Italy | 175,000 tons (178,000 tonnes) |
60,000 tons (61,000 tonnes) |
After specifying some exceptions for ships in current use and under construction, the treaty limited the total capital ship tonnage
Tonnage
Tonnage is a measure of the size or cargo carrying capacity of a ship. The term derives from the taxation paid on tuns or casks of wine, and was later used in reference to the weight of a ship's cargo; however, in modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a calculation of the volume...
of each of the signatories to the values tabulated at right. In addition, no single ship could exceed 35,000 tons
Long ton
Long ton is the name for the unit called the "ton" in the avoirdupois or Imperial system of measurements, as used in the United Kingdom and several other Commonwealth countries. It has been mostly replaced by the tonne, and in the United States by the short ton...
(35,560 t), and no ship could carry a gun in excess of 16 inches (406 mm).
The "standard tonnage" was defined in the treaty to exclude fuel (and boiler water) because the British argued that their global activities demanded higher fuel loads than other nations and they should not be penalized.
Aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s were addressed specifically by the treaty. In addition to total tonnage limits, rules regarding maximum vessel size were imposed. Only two carriers per nation could exceed 27,000 tons (27,400 t), and those two were limited to 33,000 tons (33,500 t) each - this exception was made to allow certain battlecruisers under construction to be re-used as carriers, and gave birth to the USS Lexington
USS Lexington (CV-2)
USS Lexington , nicknamed the "Gray Lady" or "Lady Lex," was an early aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. She was the lead ship of the , though her sister ship was commissioned a month earlier...
and the Akagi
Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi
Akagi was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy , originally begun as an . She was converted while still under construction to an aircraft carrier under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty...
. The number of large guns carried by an aircraft carrier was sharply limited—it was not legal to put a small number of aircraft on a battleship and call it an aircraft carrier.
As to fortifications and naval bases, the United States, the British Empire, and Japan agreed to maintain the status quo at the time of the signing. No new fortifications or naval bases could be established, and existing bases and defenses could not be improved in the territories and possessions specified. In general, the specified areas allowed construction on the main coasts of the countries, but not on smaller island territories. For example, the United States could build on Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and the Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
n mainland, but not on the Aleutian Islands. The various navies of the British Empire—considered under the treaty as one entity—were treated similarly and the facilities of the Royal Australian Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
(which had to give up the battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
HMAS Australia
HMAS Australia (1911)
HMAS Australia was one of three s built for the defence of the British Empire. Ordered by the Australian government in 1909, she was launched in 1911, and commissioned as flagship of the fledgling Royal Australian Navy in 1913...
) and the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy
Royal New Zealand Navy
The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
could be built up by their respective governments, but not the base of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. Japan could build on the home islands, but not Formosa (Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
).
Treaty members were allowed to replace or build ships within the terms of the Treaty, but any build or replacement had to be directly communicated to the other Treaty signatories.
On 29 December 1934, the Japanese government gave formal notice that it intended to terminate the treaty. Its provisions remained in force until the end of 1936, and it was not renewed.
Territorial Scope and Application
Article XIX of the treaty made numerous clarifications in regard to the territories possessed by the United States, the British Empire, and Japan, and agreed to maintain the status quo with regard to fortifications and naval bases. These territories were specified as:Effects
In Europe, the Treaty changed planned building programs for most of the signatories. The British gave up their planned N3 battleships and G3 battlecruiserG3 battlecruiser
The G3 battlecruisers were a class of battlecruisers planned by the Royal Navy after the end of World War I in response to naval expansion programs by the United States and Japan. The four ships of this class would have been larger, faster and more heavily-armed than any existing battleship...
s. Almost all of the forces built new designs in the new "heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
" class, but at the same time few new battleships were built. Instead, extensive conversions were made to existing battleships and battlecruisers, resulting in fleets in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
that consisted primarily of ships laid down before World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The United States built no new battleships until the keel of was laid in October 1937—a span of nearly 20 years.
A number of attempts were made to build new battleship designs within the Treaty limitations. The need to increase armor and firepower while keeping weight under the Washington limit resulted in experimental new designs like the British (based in part on the G3 design) and the French Richelieu
French battleship Richelieu (1939)
The Richelieu was a battleship of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She served during World War II, on the Vichy Regime side, notably fending off an Allied attempt on Dakar, and later with Allied forces in the Indian Ocean in 1944 and 1945...
.
In general, ship effectiveness is related to speed, armor and armament. Weight is related to ship length, which permits higher speeds
Hull speed
Hull speed, sometimes referred to as displacement speed, is the speed of a boat at which the bow and stern waves interfere constructively, creating relatively large waves, and thus a relatively large value of wave drag...
. Each nation used a different approach to circumvent the treaties. The US used high-strength boilers for higher speeds in a smaller ship. Germany used high-strength steels for better armor and lower weight (although this was in response to the Treaty of Versailles, not the Washington Naval Treaty). Britain designed ships that could have armor added after a war began, and in the case of and enhanced their armour by using boiler feed water tanks as part of the protective scheme. Italy simply lied about the tonnage of its ships. Japan withdrew from the treaty in 1936, and continued the building program that it had previously begun, to include placing 18.1 inch (460 mm) guns on the battleship Yamato
Japanese battleship Yamato
, named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was the lead ship of the Yamato class of battleships that served with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. She and her sister ship, Musashi, were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing...
.
The British were the most seriously affected by the terms of the treaty, as they were the only nation forced to scrap a significant number of front-line ships in order to comply with the agreed fleet ratios. The Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
had ended the First World War with a significant numerical advantage of capital ships over any rival. Even after the obsolete 12 inch (305 mm) gunned ships were relegated to reserve or sold off for scrapping, the Royal Navy still enjoyed a comfortable superiority in 13.5 inch (343 mm) gunned ships to any rival's 14 inch (356 mm) gunned ships and had thirteen 15 inch (381 mm) gunned ships compared to the handful of 16 inch (406 mm) gunned ships possessed by the US Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
and Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
. However only one, , had been completed post-war and none were of entirely modern design. As a result the Admiralty was preparing to build a series of revolutionary new warships in order to recapture the technological lead, while retaining the entire 13.5 inch and 15 inch gunned fleet to protect their numerical advantage. Under the terms of the Washington Naval treaty the Royal Navy was forced to abandon the two power standard for good and scrap twenty-eight capital ships, thirteen of which were to have been retained in the post-war battle fleet—a number of dreadnoughts roughly equivalent to the combined strength of the entire USN and IJN battlefleets. The Royal Navy was also obliged to give up their plans for eight new battleships and battlecruisers and had to wring out a concession permitting them to build two modern warships to match the American and Japanese classes. Additionally, the Royal Navy found the restrictions on cruiser construction particularly problematic. After experimenting with large cruisers in the 10,000 ton class during the war, it had decided that it actually needed large numbers of smaller, cheaper cruisers for its global role. The establishment of maximum displacement and armament for cruisers in the treaty ironically meant that this became the minimum standard that ships would be built to and the Royal Navy felt obliged to build a type of large, expensive cruiser that was not very well suited to its requirements in order to match the cruisers built by other nations.
However, by this time, the United States had surpassed the British in both industrial growth rates and total industrial capacity. By 1900, the leaders in industrial production were the U.S. with 24% of the world total, followed by Britain (19%), Germany (13%), Russia (9%) and France (7%). . Therefore, the British could not outproduce the United States in the long term, let alone the United States and Japan combined as dictated by their two-power standard. Signing up to the treaty enabled them to maintain parity with the US navy for two decades without having to engage in a potentially ruinous arms race and maintain a large fleet of obsolescent warships.
The majority of European nations were not concerned with military operations far from land, and therefore there was little interest in aircraft carrier construction. The Germans, French, and Italians did not bother with aircraft carriers until World War II was clearly looming, at which point all of them started construction in small numbers. The Royal Navy, tasked with long-range operations the world over, clearly needed carriers and so continued construction. Between 1920 (prior to the treaty) and the start of World War II the British built six new carriers, all various one-off designs. The US had six carriers at the start of the war in 1939, not including the old CV-1, , as she had been converted to a seaplane carrier (AV-3) in 1936 to allow for the completion of . After the Washington Treaty terminated, the US laid down six new carriers, starting with (a repeat ) and (the first of a new class
Essex class aircraft carrier
The Essex class was a class of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy, which constituted the 20th century's most numerous class of capital ships with 24 vessels built in both "short-hull" and "long-hull" versions. Thirty-two were originally ordered; however as World War II wound down, six were...
). Japan converted the incomplete battleship Kaga
Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga
Kaga was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy , named after the former Kaga Province in present-day Ishikawa Prefecture...
and battlecruiser Akagi
Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi
Akagi was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy , originally begun as an . She was converted while still under construction to an aircraft carrier under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty...
to aircraft carriers to conform to the Washington Naval Treaty. These conversions provided much needed experience and helped to build future classes of aircraft carriers. Japan had ten carriers at the start of the war.
The French were not pleased with the treaty. They had argued that they should be allowed a larger fleet than Italy, since France had to maintain a fleet in both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, but the Italians had to be concerned only with the Mediterranean. This would obviously imply that the Italian presence in the Mediterranean would be stronger than the French. Nevertheless, they signed the treaty, partially reassured by their alliance with the British.
The effects of the Treaty on the United States could not have been more different. The Treaty, coupled with the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
on December 7, 1941, was a major cause of the United States Navy's conversion from a battleship fleet to a carrier-based force.
The United States was over the limits in capital ships when the treaty was ratified, and had to decommission or disarm several older vessels in order to comply. However, the only aircraft carrier in the US fleet before the treaty was signed was (11,500 tons, 11,700 t), a converted collier. Not only did carriers have separate limits, but as an experimental vessel, Langley did not count against the tonnage restrictions. The US Navy thus had free rein to build carriers.
In the 1920s the U.S. Department of the Navy had a low opinion of the concept of naval aviation
Naval aviation
Naval aviation is the application of manned military air power by navies, including ships that embark fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters. In contrast, maritime aviation is the operation of aircraft in a maritime role under the command of non-naval forces such as the former RAF Coastal Command or a...
despite (or perhaps because of) Billy Mitchell's 1921 success in using US Army Air Service bombers to sink the German battleship . However, to comply with the treaty, two battlecruisers of the Lexington class still under construction, USS Lexington (43,500 tons, 44,200 t) and USS Saratoga (43,500 tons, 44,200 t), had to be disposed of. They were converted into carriers (33,000 tons, 33,500 t) and (33,000 tons, 33,500 t), although that choice was only slightly preferred over scrapping. However they were also equipped with eight 8-inch guns, the maximum number of that caliber allowed by the treaty for aircraft carriers bigger than 27,000 tons. The treaty allowed these ships to displace 33,000 tons, and have an additional 3,000 tons added for deck and underwater protection; hence a final 36,000 ton standard displacement figure. They were subject to a great deal of creative accounting as to these figures, and both were far closer to 40,000 tons at the time they were commissioned.
In 1931, the United States was still well under the treaty's limit on carriers. (14,500 tons, 14,700 t) was the first US carrier designed as such — no other class of capital ship could be built — and the Navy began incorporating the lessons from those first four carriers into the design of two more. In 1933, Congress passed Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
" package of legislation, which included nearly $40 million for the two new carriers: (19,800 tons, 20,100 t) and (19,800 tons, 20,100 t). Still bound by the 135,000 ton (137,000 t) limit, the keel of the final US pre-war Treaty carrier (14,700 tons, 14,900 t) was laid down on April 1, 1936. The US Carrier Fleet now totaled 135,000 tons (137,000 t), nominally, and there it remained until the treaty was terminated by Japan in 1936. As with their predecessors, the two Yorktowns and Wasp were subject to a great deal of creative accounting; their actual displacements were closer to 25,000 and 20,000 tons respectively. The actual carrier fleet displacement in 1936 was closer to 165,000 tons, the displacement of only two supercarrier
Supercarrier
Supercarrier is an unofficial descriptive term for the largest type of aircraft carrier, usually displacing over 70,000 long tons.Supercarrier is an unofficial descriptive term for the largest type of aircraft carrier, usually displacing over 70,000 long tons.Supercarrier is an unofficial...
s of just twenty years later.
Japanese denunciation
The naval treaty had a profound effect on the Japanese. With superior American and even British industrial power, a long war would very likely end in a Japanese defeat. Thus, gaining parity on the strategic level was not economically possible.Due to Lanchester's laws
Lanchester's laws
Lanchester's laws are mathematical formulae for calculating the relative strengths of a predator/prey pair. This article is concerned with military forces....
, any significant disadvantage in combat power at the tactical point of contact will be grossly disadvantageous to the inferior side. Thus, from a purely tactical point of view, a ratio of 10:10 would be desirable for the Japanese for successful defense. However, they were realist enough to realize that they were not getting it.
However, since contemporary operational norms predicted a ~10% loss of combat power for every thousand miles a fleet had to travel, the Japanese settled for 10:7 as the minimally acceptable ratio for successful defense on an operational level (America's fleet, traveling about 3-4000 miles to attack Japan, was expected to lose 30-40% of its strength, thus allowing a tactical battle at even or just above even odds for the Japanese).
Many Japanese saw the 5:5:3 ratio of ships as another way of being snubbed by the West (though it can be argued that the Japanese, having a one-ocean navy, had a far greater concentration of force than the two-ocean United States Navy or the three-ocean Royal Navy). It also contributed to a schism in high ranks of the Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
between the Treaty Faction
Treaty Faction
The was an unofficial and informal political faction within the Imperial Japanese Navy in the 1920s-1930s of officers supporting the Washington Naval Treaty.-Background:...
officers on the one hand and on the other those opposed to it, who were also allied to the ultranationalists in the Japanese army and other parts of the Japanese government. For Treaty Faction opponents, the Treaty was one of the factors which contributed to the deterioration of the relationship between the United States and the Japanese Empire. The unfairness, at least in the eyes of the Japanese, led to Japan's renunciation of the Naval Limitation Treaties in 1936. Isoroku Yamamoto
Isoroku Yamamoto
was a Japanese Naval Marshal General and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II, a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy and a student of Harvard University ....
, who later masterminded the Pearl Harbor attack
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, held that Japan should remain in the treaty and was therefore regarded by many as a member of the Treaty Faction. His view was more complex, however, in that he felt the United States could out-produce Japan by a greater factor than the 5:3 ratio because of the huge US production advantage, on which he was expert, having served in the Japanese Embassy in Washington. He felt that other methods would be needed to even the odds, which may have contributed to his advocacy of the plan to attack Pearl Harbor. However, he did not have sufficient influence at Navy headquarters or in the government.
On 29 December 1934, the Japanese government gave formal notice that it intended to terminate the treaty. Its provisions remained in force until the end of 1936, and it was not renewed, Japan effectively leaving the treaty in 1936.
Cryptanalytic influences on the treaty
What was unknown to the participants in the Conference was that the American "Black ChamberBlack Chamber
The Cipher Bureau otherwise known as The Black Chamber was the United States' first peacetime cryptanalytic organization, and a forerunner of the National Security Agency...
" (the Cypher Bureau, a US intelligence service), under Herbert Yardley
Herbert Yardley
Herbert Osborne Yardley was an American cryptologist best known for his book The American Black Chamber . The title of the book refers to the Cipher Bureau, the cryptographic organization of which Yardley was the founder and head...
, was spying on the delegations' communications with their home capitals. In particular, Japanese communications were thoroughly penetrated, and American negotiators were able to get the minimum possible deal the Japanese had indicated they would accept, below which they would leave the Conference. As this ratio value was unpopular with much of the Imperial Japanese Navy and with the increasingly active and important ultranationalist groups, the value the Japanese Government accepted was the cause of much suspicion and accusation among Japanese between politicians and Naval officers.
External links
- Conference on the Limitation of Armament Full text of the Washington Naval Treaty.
- "The New Navies" Popular Mechanics, May 1929, pp. 738-748 article on warships provided for under treaty