Second-Hand Warship Export Case Studies

Background

Article XVIII of the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty (WNT) specified that:

This article was intended to avoid uncertainty in the balance of power caused by the inability to calculate the effective strength of the fleet of any given country. It also prevented signatories from transferring vessels they were not permitted to retain under the treaty to friendly foreign powers in such circumstances that might allow them to be reacquired in times of crisis, thereby disturbing the balance established by the Treaty ratios.

With the inevitable down-sizing of navies with the outbreak of peace, a large number of potentially saleable second-hand warships would become available for transfer in the 1920s and the floodgates were opening. Some 50 second-hand warships had already been sold by the five major naval powers in 1920-21 (see linked table), and at the time of the Washington Conference, Britain was in negotiation with no less than five countries (Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Finland and Romania) for the sale of surplus warships.

After the expiry of the WNT at the end of 1936, the provision banning the sale of second-hand warships was carried forward into LNT36, and the bilateral naval limitation treaties Britain negotiated with Germany, Russia and Poland.

Ratification of the WNT did not end attempts to buy or sell second-hand warships, and this site presents a series of case studies from the period between the signing of the WNT and the outbreak of World War Two. Some of these were little more than rumours or enquiries, but in other cases the sales were completed. Information on some of these cases is not always clear or complete, and this site presents a summary of what information is currently held pending further research.

The table below classifies the status of these case studies according to the following categories:

• Transferred – A transfer took place.
• Unconfirmed – a transfer was discussed, but it is not known whether it took place.
• Proposed – A specific transfer was discussed but did not eventuate.
• Contemplated – the possibility of a transfer was considered, but never discussed between the parties
• Unknown – a possible transfer has been reported, but it has been unable to ascertain whether it is genuine
• Erroneous report – No transfer occurred or was discussed; however, it was erroneously reported.

For a list of second-hand warship sales completed by the Washington Treaty signatories between the end of World War 1 and the convening of the 1921 Washington Naval Conference, refer here.