London Naval Treaty
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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.
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[edit] Conference
The treaty was a document composed of words; but the text and the signing of that treaty remains inextricably intertwined with the on-going negotiations which began before the official start of the London Naval Conference, evolved throughout the progress of the official conference schedule, and continued for years thereafter.
[edit] Terms of the Treaty
The terms of the treaty were seen as an extension of the conditions agreed in the Washington Naval Treaty. The agreement is officially termed the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament.
The Conference was a revival of the efforts which had gone into the Geneva Naval Conference of 1927. At Geneva, the various negotiators had been unable to reach agreement because of bad feeling between the British Government and that of the United States. This problem may have initially arisen from discussions held between President Herbert Hoover and Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald at Rapidan Camp in 1929; but a range of factors affected tensions which were exacerbated between the other nations represented at the conference.[1]
Under the Treaty, the standard displacements and gun calibres of submarines were restricted for the first time, thereby putting an end to the 'big-gun' submarine concept pioneered by the British M Class and the French Surcouf. The Treaty also established a distinction between cruisers armed with guns no greater than 6.1 inches (155mm) calibre ("light cruisers" in unofficial parlance), from those with guns up to 8 inches (203 mm) calibre ("heavy cruisers"). Limits on total tonnage were placed on most categories of naval vessels for each signatory nation.
Article 22 relating to submarine warfare declared that international law applied to them as to surface vessels. Also merchant vessels which did demonstrate "persistent refusal to stop" or "active resistance" could be sunk without the ship's crew and passengers being first delivered to a "place of safety".[2]
The next phase of attempted naval arms control was the Second Geneva Naval Conference in 1932; and in that year, Italy retired two battleships, twelve cruisers, 25 destroyers, and 12 submarines -- in all, 130,000 tons of naval vessels.[3] Active negotiations amongst the other treaty signatories continued during the following years.[4] This was followed by the Second London Naval Treaty of 1936.
[edit] Circumventing the Treaty
The British, American and Japanese navies all sought to circumvent the treaty.[5] For example, the "light cruisers" built by all three navies in the 1930s were such in name only. As the London Treaty defined a "light cruiser" as one having a main armament no greater than 6.1 inches (155 mm) calibre, the three major naval powers embarked on building "light cruisers" that were equal in size and effective power to heavy cruisers. These ships made up for their smaller calibre guns by carrying a larger number of them. As these cruisers fell just under the 10,000 ton standard displacement limit set by the treaty, they were theoretically compliant with the restrictions, but only barely. See British Town-class cruiser, Japanese Mogami-class cruiser, and American Brooklyn-class cruiser for specific examples.
[edit] See also
- Treaty of London - List of treaties signed in London.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Steiner, Zara S. (2005). The Lights that Failed: European International History 1919-1933, pp. 587-591.
- ^ Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armaments, (Part IV, Art. 22, relating to submarine warfare). London, 22 April 1930
- ^ "Italy Will Retire 130,000 tons of Navy; Two Battleships, All That She Owns, Are Included in the Sweeping Economy Move. Four New Cruisers to go [plus] Eight Old Ones, 25 Destroyers and 12 Submarines Also to Be Taken Out of Service," New York Times. August 18, 1932.
- ^ "Naval Men See Hull on the London Talks; Admiral Leigh and Commander Wilkinson Will Sail Today to Act as Advisers," New York Times. June 9, 1934.
- ^ Seldon, Charles A. "Japan's Attitude Halts Naval Talks; Delays in Entering Parleys in London Result in Calling Them Off Until Fall. Davis Will Return Home; Washington Is Disappointed by Failure of Tokyo to Offer Preliminary Program," New York Times. July 17, 1934.
[edit] References
- Steiner, Zara S. (2005). The Lights that Failed: European International History 1919-1933. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 10-ISBN 0-198-22114-2; 13-ISBN 978-0-198-22114-2; OCLC 58853793
