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 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.
The SecondLondonNaval Disarmament Conference opened in London, the United Kingdom, on December 9, 1935.
The conference was intended to limit the growth in naval armaments until its expiry in 1942.
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-inch guns; the North Carolinas were gunned with 16-inch weapons after Japan refused to accept the Treaty but their protection against those weapons was somewhat substandard).
The LondonNavalTreaty was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy and the United States, signed on April 22, 1930, which regulated submarine warfare and limited military shipbuilding.
It was an extension of the conditions agreed in the Washington NavalTreaty and is officially termed the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament.
It was a revival of the Geneva Naval Conference of 1927 which had been unable to reach agreement because of bad feeling between the British Government and that of the United States.
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