Second London Naval Treaty
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The Second London Naval Disarmament Conference opened in England on December 9, 1935. It resulted in the Second London Naval Treaty which was signed on March 25, 1936.
The signatories were the governments of France, Britain, and the United States of America. The government of Japan, which had been a signatory of the First London Naval Treaty, had withdrawn from the conference on January 15. Italy also declined to sign the treaty, largely as a result of public hostility over her invasion of Abyssinia.
The conference was intended to limit the growth in naval armaments until its expiry in 1942. The absence of Japan (a very significant naval power) prevented agreement on a ceiling on the numbers of warships. The treaty did limit the maximum size of the signatories' ships, and the maximum calibre of the guns which they could carry. For example, submarines could not be larger than 2000 tons or have a gun armament of greater than 5.1-inches, cruisers were restricted to 8000 tons or less and capital ships to 35000 tons and 14-inch guns. An escalator clause was included which allowed capital ships 16" guns and 45000 tons displacement if foreign navies began commissioning such ships.
This treaty effectively ended on 1 September 1939 with the beginning of World War II. Even during its brief period of supposed effectiveness, its clauses were honored more in the breach than in the observance; the only "treaty" cruisers the United States commissioned (the St. Louis class light cruiser), for example, were over 5,000 tons heavier than the treaty tonnage. Two classes of "Treaty" Battleships were built by the United States: the North Carolina class and the South Dakota class (the SoDaks were designed with and protected against 16" guns; the North Carolinas were gunned with 16" weapons after Japan refused to accept the Treaty but their protection against those weapons was somewhat substandard). The Iowa class was designed after the beginning of World War II and was developed without any thought in mind of the treaties; other than the monstrous Yamato, the Iowa class was the heaviest class of battleship ever put to sea.
See also
- Washington Naval Treaty
- Anglo-German Naval Pact
- Treaty of London - List of treaties signed in London.zh:第二次伦敦海军条约