RF wrote:The point that stands out is that the US had to cut back with its budget cuts, but the cheating by the Japanese had already begun.
The cheating is not as clear cut as described. For example, Furutaka was declared as 7100 tons standard as built, which is the figure given by Jentaschura. The Wikipedia article gives 7,950 tons, possibly from Whitley who noted that she was completed overweight. She was modernised twice (was the 7,950 figure after 1931-2?) and the second modernisation raised the standard displacement to 8700 tons (Jentaschura) or 9150 tons ( Wikipedia/ Whitley) but that was long after the treaties had expired.