Editing Washington Naval Treaty (section)

===Cruisers and destroyers===
[[File:HMS Hawkins quayside.jpg|thumb|{{HMS|Hawkins|D86|6}}, [[lead ship]] for [[Hawkins-class cruiser|her class]] of heavy cruisers alongside a [[quay]], probably during the interwar period]]

Hughes proposed to limit secondary ships ([[cruiser]]s and [[destroyer]]s) in the same proportions as capital ships. However, that was unacceptable to both the British and the French. The British counterproposal, in which the British would be entitled to 450,000 tons of cruisers in consideration of its [[British Empire|imperial commitments]] but the United States and Japan to only 300,000 and 250,000 respectively, proved equally contentious. Thus, the idea of limiting total cruiser tonnage or numbers was rejected entirely.{{Sfn | Marriott | 2005 | p = 11}}

Instead, the British suggested a qualitative limit of future cruiser construction. The limit proposed, of a 10,000 ton maximum displacement and 8-inch calibre guns, was intended to allow the British to retain the [[Hawkins class cruiser|''Hawkins'' class]], then being constructed. That coincided with the American requirements for cruisers for Pacific Ocean operations and also with Japanese plans for the [[Furutaka class cruiser|''Furutaka'' class]]. The suggestion was adopted with little debate.{{Sfn | Marriott | 2005 | p = 11}}