The Colorado class dreadnought USS Washington under construction. The details of her multi-layer torpedo defense system are easily seen.
The United States enjoyed somewhat of a significant advantage in warship development at this time.
Most major powers (such as Britain and Germany) were locked in the dreadnought race. In an effort to outproduce the competition, the implementation of new features was somewhat hamstrung by the rush to get ships into serve as quickly as possible.
The US Navy on the other hand, could take a more leisurely approach (Not to mention take advantage of data coming from foreign experiences).
Extensive testing of various components was conducted. This was especially true for tank testing of underwater protection schemes.
This led to the development of the highly effective defense systems.
The US was able to determine features such as optimal distance between bulkheads, the best material to fill them (Air vs liquid), the thickness of the bulkhead, organization of said bulkeads, etc.
Further aided by other things (such as the powerplant and tight subdivision), the final Standard Battleships were ahead of the competition as far as underwater protection went.
Even by the Second World War, they remained competitive with the newest designs.
It's not to say the US had superior workmanship. Merely, they had the freedom to design and incorporate new features at a generous pace.
The nature of the Standard Battleships to be incremental improvements over their predecessors was also a likely factor that drove development
Overall, I'm starting to gain an appreciation for the Standards. While not quite gaining the respect of their peers, they were technologically interesting designs that had an impact on US design through the Second World War.
#fridaymorning #Friday #UnitedStates #USA #History
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