Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "Battle of Coronel - Sundown in the Eastern Pacific" video.

  1.  @austin0351  I have wondered the same thing. The New Mexicos were upgraded, new engines and superstructures, in 31, but nothing was done with the Tennessees and Colorados. The Italian ships were much more extensively updated than the New Mexicos. Reportedly only about 40% of the original Italian ships remained after the rebuilds. iirc, a clause of the treaties was that the offensive capability of ships could not be increased, only defensive, like torpedo protection and AA armament. Maybe the US did a more literal reading of the treaty, while the Italians were more liberal in their interpretation. Maybe lengthening the US ships, the way the Italian ships were lengthened, would have put them over the 35,000 ton treaty limit, as the US ships started out roughly 10,000 larger than the Italians. Bottom line is probably the US ships could have received new superstructures and modern AA armament, ending up looking like West Virginia in 44, but they would still be 21 knot ships, because the treaty limit would have prevented the lengthening, until the treaty system collapsed, and, by then, the US was building entirely new BBs.
    3