asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the standard displacement method of measuring war vessels is applicable to pre-War vessels; and whether, as this will have the result of considerably reducing the recorded tonnage of pre-War ships of all nations, it is the intention of the Admiralty, for the purpose of comparison with the ships of other nations, to adopt this new method of measurement for all the vessels enumerated in the Navy List?

The Washington standard displacement method of measuring war vessels can be made applicable to all types. The Washington Treaty of 1922, however, contained a provision that "vessels now completed shall retain their present ratings of displacement tonnage in accordance with their national system of measurement." In the Navy List, therefore, standard displacement is only shown against vessels completed since the Washington Treaty.