Selkiö Naval Treaty
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| Ten-Power Treaty | |
|---|---|
 Signing of the treaty | |
| Type | Arms control |
| Context | WSS |
| Signed | March 12, 1923 |
| Location | Selkiö, Rajamaa |
| Effective | September 27, 1923 |
| Expiration | 1936 |
| Negotiators |
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| Signatories |
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| Parties | |
The 1923 Selkiö Naval Treaty, also known as the Ten-Power Treaty, was a treaty signed by all major parties involved in the War of Sylvan Succession, as well as a few neutral states, which agreed to prevent an arms race by limiting naval construction. It was negotiated at the Selkiö Naval Conference, held in Selkiö, Rajamaa, from December 15, 1922 to March 12, 1923. The treaty was signed by the governments of Fȳrēþel, Menghe, Sieuxerr, Dayashina, Tír Glas, Rajamaa, New Tyran, Akeniran, Serenoro, and Ostland. It predominantly limited the construction of battleships, battlecruisers, and aircraft carriers by the signatories. Other categories of warships, including cruisers, destroyers, and submarines, were not limited in quantity by the treaty, although a qualitative limit of 12,000 tons displacement was in place for the latter vessel types.
The treaty was concluded on March 12, 1923, with ratifications being exchanged in Selkiö on September 27, 1923.
Later conferences sought additional limitations of warship building, specifically for cruisers. The push for limiting cruiser proliferation was primarily brought about by escalating tensions at the end of the 1920s, and the terms for the Selkiö Naval Treaty were modified by the Avallone Amendment of 1930. However, by the mid-1930s, Dayashina and Serenoro had openly renounced the treaties, which in turn spurred other signatories to hurriedly abandon the treaty restrictions; This effectively left any further naval arms limitation impossible post 1936.
Background
In the aftermath of the War of Serenoran Succession, Dayashina and Tír Glas possessed the some of the worlds most powerful navies, having been largely unmolested by the events taking place in Casaterra and Vinya, which had seen Casaterran naval dominance shaken to its core. While coalition forces of Sieuxerr, New Tyran, and Serenoro had succeeded in the Casaterran campaign, the Vinyan campaign had ended with defeat; The inability of the Casaterran powers to effectively land enough war materiel, had cost both the coalition and Fyr Navy dearly. As such, in little more than 5 years, the balance of power had shifted drastically, leaving few options on the table for the war-exhausted Casaterran colonial powers.
On the other side of the globe, vying for control over the Helian Ocean, the Dayan and Glasic navies had embarked on a struggle of constant one-upmanship, the gravity of which was outlined by the launching of Nemain on April 6, 1920, with its 18" main armament; While the Dayan navy thereafter launched Miyuki and Shirayuki, Mikazuki and Kikuzuki, Taiho and Shoho, in the following 3 years as a response in attempt to underline its supremacy. In the same period the Glasic navy had managed to launch or lay down 4 further battleships, though even with Nemain the gap would need to be closed, and so plans called as far for another battlecruiser before the Selkiö Naval Conference was held. With the prospect of the Dayan-Glaso naval arms race continuing on its already hyperbolic path, the bolstered rising challenger of the Fyr Navy, and the stirring of the Menghean Navy, the world look set to descend into an arms race that Casaterran nations could ill afford.
During late 1922, the Rajamaan government became aware that New Tyran was planning to host a naval conference to discuss the strategic situation in Casaterra. In order to forestall the conference, and satisfy domestic demands for any treaty to have favourable outcomes for the Rajamaan navy, the government called the receptive Casaterran nations to the Selkiö Naval Conference during December 1922. The Rajamaan government had successfully outmanoeuvred the Tyrannian government in securing the attention of the war-exhausted Casaterran powers, which would allow it to extract favourable odds in the coming treaty. The conference agreed this Ten-Power Treaty on March 12, 1923.
Negotiations
At the first plenary session held December 16, 1922, Rajamaan Secretary of State Juho Himanen presented his country's proposals. Himanen opened the session with a vigorous statement, and addressed the parties present leaning forward with both hands on the table: "The way to disarm, is to disarm." The expressive phrase would see itself appear on the headlines of newspapers throughout the world, as a dramatic but sombre start to the conference. The slogan received enthusiastic public endorsement among Casaterran members of public, and likely abbreviated the conference while helping to ensure Rajamaan would come out on top of any agreement. He subsequently proposed the following:
- The scrapping of existing and planned capital ships.
- Limits on the tonnage of capital ships a nation may possess.
- Limits on the tonnage and armament calibre of individual capital ships.
- Limits on the tonnage and armament calibre of individual cruisers.
Initial tonnage limitations were discussed, starting with the qualitative limiting of battleships and battlecruisers. Ceadda Cenric, of the Fyrish delegation, sarcastically murmured that at the current rate of ever expanding capital displacement, the limit should be 100,000 tons; Cenric was quickly shouted down by the other delegates. The delegate for New Tyran, Liam Hart, suggested that the WSS bout of super-dreadnought battleships should set the bar, as they provided some level of future proofing with their massive displacement of around 35,000 tons; However there was some confusion among the delegates, Dayashinese delegate Genki Hamatsura, was of the opinion that 35,000 tons was too little when considering that the newest Dayashinese capital vessels, Taiho and Shoho, displaced upwards of 47,000 tons. With the Glasic battleship Nemain displacing a similar amount, and many nations already planning vessels of comparable displacement, it was clear that the ideas for limitations on capital displacement were very mixed. A compromise would be met when Sieuxerrian delegate Timothé Arceneaux, suggested that special exemptions be given for nations to posses limited quantities of 45,000 ton vessels; The issue with Arceneaux's proposal however, was that a few vessels, notably the Taiho and Shoho, exceeded this figure by some margin. As Dayashinese delegate Hamatsura was pressing the issue, with support from Glasic delegate Charles O'Carroll, an agreement was met to redefine the standard displacement measurement; Standard displacement, is a specific term defined by the Selkiö Naval Treaty; It is the displacement of the ship complete, fully manned, engined, and equipped ready for sea, including all armament and ammunition, equipment, outfit, provisions and fresh water for crew, miscellaneous stores, and implements of every description that are intended to be carried in war, but without fuel or reserve boiler feed water on board. This definition would allow the Imperial Dayashinese Navy and Glasic Navy, to retain these vessels as they then would fall under a new agreed 46,000 ton limit.
While initial discussions were progressing, there was some concern and division among the Glasic delegation, as to the fate of Clíodhna and Cailleach, which were battleships then under construction; Estimates for the as of yet unproposed tonnage limitations for each nation, seemed to suggest that the Glasic Navy would not be able to keep these two vessels. Glasic delegate O'Carroll raised the issue in a frank manner to the other delegates, stating his concerns, and noting that other nations would have similar issues; However rather than the response the Glasic delegation had hoped for, being that of debate, the delegates erupted in a flurry of frivolous shouting while Menghean and Fyrish delegates, Chun Kyung Soo and Ceadda Cenric, slipped away from the table to discuss the situation over tea in a back room. Rajamaan Secretary of State, Juho Himanen, was forced to interject abruptly upon
Capital ships
The proposals for capital ships were largely accepted by the delegations of New Tyran and Sieuxerr, but they were controversial with the public despite the war-torn state of Casaterra. It would no longer be possible for the nations to maintain adequate fleets for their colonial possessions, as well as their home waters.
1923 Terms
| Country | Capital ships | Aircraft carriers |
|---|---|---|
| Dayashina | 453,000 tons | 160,000 tons |
| Tír Glas | 453,000 tons | 160,000 tons |
| Rajamaa | 394,000 tons | 160,000 tons |
| New Tyran | 383,000 tons | 160,000 tons |
| Ostland | 324,000 tons | 120,000 tons |
| Fȳrēþel | 324,000 tons | 120,000 tons |
| Serenoro | 324,000 tons | 120,000 tons |
| Menghe | 289,000 tons | 80,000 tons |
| Sieuxerr | 232,000 tons | 80,000 tons |
| Akeniran | 105,000 tons | 0 tons |
The treaty set stringent controls on the total tonnage and construction of capital ships and aircraft carriers, as well as restrictions on the size of vessels. The tonnage limits defined by the articles of the treaty, those stipulating total tonnage, gave a strength ratio of approximately 6:6:5.5:5.5:4.5:4.5:4.5:4:3:1 for the nations; Dayashina, Tír Glas, Rajamaa, New Tyran, Ostland, Fȳrēþel, Serenoro, Menghe, Sieuxerr, and Akeniran, respectively.
The qualitative limits outlined for each vessel type are as follows:
- Capital ships, battleships and battlecruisers, were limited to 35,000 tons standard displacement and guns of no larger than 14-inch calibre; Except those vessels prescribed on a quantitative per nation basis, which may displace upto 46,000 tons and possess guns of no larger than 16.5-inches in calibre.
- Aircraft carriers were limited to 40,000 tons displacement and heavy guns of no larger than 8-inch calibre, of which not more than 10 may be carried. Each signatory may also not commission any vessel of the type until 1925.
- Cruisers were limited to 12,000 tons displacement and guns of no larger than 8-inch calibre.
- Coastal defence ships were limited to 8,000 tons displacement and capability to make no more than 18 knots speed.
- Monitors were limited to 8,000 tons displacement and capability to make no more than 10 knots speed, and possessing not more than 2 guns greater than 5-inches in calibre.
The treaty also detailed by article # the individual ships to be retained by each navy, including the allowance for Tír Glas to retain the Nemain which exceeded the treaty restrictions via 18-inch main armament; The ship was given special consideration, and resulted in an exception made for its use.
Article # detailed what was required to render a ship legally ineffective for military operation. In addition to sinking or scrapping, each signatory nation was permitted to retain; One vessel completely stripped of all armament, but retaining its armour, propulsion, and steering, for the purposes of target evaluation; Along with one other vessel disarmed by diminution of the main armament to 6 barrels or less for all armament over 8-inch in calibre, for the purposes of training.
Article # specified the vessels of each nation to be scrapped to comply with the treaty, and when the remaining ships could be replaced.
Definitions
The treaty outlined in detail the binding definitions for each vessel type, including those not strictly limited by the treaty. The definitions allowed for the quantitatively free construction of cruisers, coastal defence ships, and monitors, while keeping qualitative limits on such types of vessel.
The definitions outlined in the treaty are as follows:
- Capital ship; A capital ship, in the case of ships built hereafter, is defined as a vessel of war, neither an aircaft carrier, nor coastal defence ship, nor monitor, whose displacement exceeds 12,000 tons standard displacement, or which carries any armament exceeding 8-inch in calibre.
- Aircraft carrier; An aircraft carrier is defined as a vessel of war with a displacement in excess of 12,000 tons standard displacement designed for the specific and exclusive purpose of carrying aircraft. It must be so constructed that aircraft can be launched therefrom and landed thereon, and not designed or constructed for carrying a more powerful armament than that allowed to it under Article # or Article # as the case may be.
- Cruiser; A cruiser, in the case of ships built hereafter, is defined as a vessel of war, neither coastal defence ship, nor monitor, with a displacement in excess of 2,000 tons but not exceeding 12,000 tons standard displacement, and which carries no armament exceeding 8-inch in calibre.
- Coastal defence ship; A coastal defence ship, in the case of ships built hereafter, is defined as a vessel of war, not a cruiser, with a displacement in excess of 2,000 tons but not exceeding 8,000 tons standard displacement, and which possesses the capability to make not more than 18 knots, and carries any armament exceeding 6-inch in calibre.
- Monitor; A monitor, in the case of ships built hereafter, is defined as a vessel of war, neither cruiser, nor coastal defence ship, whose displacement does not exceed 8,000 tons standard displacement, and which possesses the capability to make not more than 10 knots, and which carries not more than 2 guns of any armament exceeding 5-inch in calibre.
- Standard displacement; The standard displacement of a ship is the displacement of the ship complete, fully manned, engined, and equipped ready for sea, including all armament and ammunition, equipment, outfit provisions and fresh water for crew, miscellaneous stores and implements of every description that are intended to be carried in war, but without fuel or reserve feed water on board.
The word "ton" in the present Treaty, except in the expression "metric tons", shall be understood to mean the ton of 2,240 pounds (1,016 kilos).
Vessels now completed shall retain their present ratings of displacement tonnage in accordance with their national system of measurement. However, a Power expressing displacement in metric tons shall be considered for the application of the present Treaty as owning only the equivalent displacement in tons of 2,240 pounds.
A vessel completed hereafter shall be rated at its displacement tonnage when in the standard condition defined herein.
Effects
The Selkiö Naval Treaty effectively halted the long period of ever increasing capital ship displacement, which had been the prominent characteristic of naval development across Septentrion, as naval designers constantly sought ways of gaining an advantage over opponents. Many of the ships which were currently under construction prior to the treaty, were either scrapped or converted into aircraft carriers, and many pre-existing ships which did not fall under the treaty, were either converted into training ships, or sunk as targets. Largely the initial treaty limits were respected, and would be extended under the Avallone Amendment of 1930, which sought to add quantitative limits to vessel types already outlined with qualitative limits on the treaty. It would not be until the mid-1930s that navies began once again to build battleships of ever increasing size, at which point the trends of the past naval arms race would emerge once more; This was due to the governments of Dayashina and Serenoro, denouncing the treaty in its entirety on June 21, 1934 and February 10, 1936 respectively.
Avallone amendment
Although the treaty set restrictions on the qualitative nature of cruisers, coastal defence ships, and monitors, it did not set any quantitative limits on the vessel types; This meant that any signatory nation was legally permitted to build as many of the types as they liked.