Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "The Drydock - Episode 175" video.

@richardcutts196 my favorite scenario for the three Mackensens that were in the water was for France to claim them as war reparations and tow them to Brest for completion. The incomplete Normandies that France had in the water had been obsoleted by the war, but many of the guns intended for the Normandies has been completed, and the Normandie guns were just a hair smaller than what Mackensen was designed for 13.4" vs 13.8" and 5.5" vs 5.9". Of course, the WNT would interfere with that plan, so then two are completed as fast BBs, instead of France receiving the licenses to build two new ships, which became the Dunkerques, and the third is converted to a carrier, instead of Béarn. But France was broke. The US was pressing for repayment of war debts, in cash, and the UK was pressing France for repayment of war debts, in cash, so the UK could use the cash to pay it's debts to the US, and France had a huge reconstruction job ahead of it as it had "hosted" the front line for the entire war.
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wrt the question about the USN contribution to WWI, I was reading some contemporary newspaper articles recently. In April, within days of the US entering the war and before Maryland and Tennessee were laid down, SecNav Daniels was already publicly speculating that all capital ship construction should be suspended and all the resources put in to DD and freighter construction. By July, the magnitude of losses to U-Boats was becoming apparent. In April, the Emergency Fleet Corporation was established to organize the mass production of freighters, with the goal of building 3 million tons of ships in 18 months. The US had already lost 3 million tons in only four months.
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