Treaty Cruisers: The First International Warship Building Competition

The Washington Naval Treaty of 1921 and the treaties that followed in the 1930s shaped the size and makeup of the navies that fought the Second World War. They set design parameters and tonnage limits for battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers and destroyers, and many navies rushed to build the heavy cruisers the rules allowed.

Leo Marriott traces the political processes that led to the treaties and describes the heavy cruisers each nation designed and built to the same rules. He then considers how the classes fared in the war and assesses which was the most successful. Ships from Britain, France, Italy, Germany, the USA and Japan are included.

Reference material at the back includes build tables, a history of every vessel, specification sheets, armament details and the aircraft carried. Pen & Sword Maritime published the book in 2020. ISBN-13: 9781783409761.