Author Description

"During the 1920s and the early 1930s, warship construction by the five signatories of the Washington Naval Treaty was limited in individual and aggregate tonnage, armament, and the actual number of capital ships -- for the object of the treaty was to secure parity in sea power among disparate nations. The net effect was that neither Britain nor America could build new battleships, Japan could only build nine capital ships by 1935, while France and Italy could in theory build any number within a 35,000-ton displacement limit. The efforts of the power were therefore confined to the modifications to existing ships or to replace tonnage. By 1924, Britain was on the eye of launching two new battleships -- HMS Nelson and Rodney as reduced version of the 48,000-ton battlecruisers ordered in 1931. The American carriers Lexington and Saratoga were on the slipway too. But this issue of Jane reflects minor changes and improvements rather than major ones -- the addition of armour bulges for instance. It was the beginning of a period when the nations were to show increasing ingenuity and sophistication in design within the terms of the treaty. Additional interest is given to this issue by the inclusion of many new photographs, some which are of the 'end on' type, and by the reinstatement of the plans of American and Japanese parts and dockyards."--Provided by publisher.