The “Michigan” class had everything but turbine propusion. And while the Brits got the glory of building the first ‘Dreadnought’ the US Superdreadoughts built in 1916 (Arizona & Pennsylvania) were arguably on par with anything the Brits had. Plus the American concept of the “Standard Battleship” — ships designed to operate interchangeably in a common battling — made our fleet very imposing.
Battling = Battle Line.
Thanks for that. The book just detailed the Great White Fleet and it’s coaling problems. Congress denied funds for the fleet to continue just to show Teddy that they and not he had the control.