The class was decommissioned in 1922 to comply with the Washington naval treaty.

They had a relatively short career, all being decommissioned in 1921, due to the Washington Naval Treaty.

By 1922 naval estimates were being slashed and the Washington Naval Treaty limited the size of fleets.

The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country.

The Washington Naval Treaty also prohibited the fortification of islands in the Pacific, but Singapore was specifically excluded.

They were also the first cruisers the Japanese Navy constructed that exceeded the (10,000 ton) limit set by the Washington Naval Treaty.

The 203 mm/53 Ansaldo was the main battery gun of Italy's most modern Washington Naval Treaty heavy cruisers.

New Zealand was sold for scrap in 1922 while Australia only lasted two years more before being scuttled to comply with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.

Under the Washington Naval treaty and the London Naval treaty, the American navy was to be equal to the Japanese army by a ratio of 10:7.

She reclassified as a first-class coastal defence ship in 1921 and began disarmament in 1922 at Yokosuka in compliance with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.

The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 limited the signatory nations to a set amount of capital ship tonnage; all ships in excess of this figure had to be scrapped.

On 8 February 1922, two days after the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty for the Limitation of Naval Armaments, all construction work ceased on the 75.9% completed super-dreadnought.

Initially, the Citizens Force was maintained through the compulsory training scheme, however, after 1922 the battalion's authorised establishment was reduced in response to large-scale budget cuts that occurred following the Washington Naval Treaty.

Following the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty in 1922, many of the Mark 5 guns in service were removed from sea duty and transferred to the U.S. Army for use as coastal artillery.

However, due to budgetary limitations and in response to the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, the designs of both vessels were scaled down, and Shirataka was called on to serve as a dual-purpose netlayer/minelayer.

The 1930 London Naval Treaty extended the "battleship holiday" from the Washington Naval Treaty until the end of 1936, although France and Italy were allowed to lay down new battleships in accordance with the older treaty.

The United States' State Department, led by Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes and fresh from negotiating the Washington Naval Treaty, was not keen on seeing another dreadnought race, so Hughes quickly moved to thwart the efforts of the mission.

The term "dreadnought" gradually dropped from use after World War I, especially after the Washington Naval Treaty, as virtually all remaining battleships shared dreadnought characteristics; it can also be used to describe battlecruisers, the other type of ship resulting from the dreadnought revolution.

With the conclusion of World War I and the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty, the size of the Imperial Japanese Navy was significantly lessened, with a ratio of 5:5:3 required between the capital ships of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan.