Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "HMS Lightning - Guide 414" video.

@waynesworldofsci-tech possibilities are nearly infinite. Royal Oak could have been escorting a convoy, instead of Jervis Bay, or patroling, instead of Rawalpindi. If Royal Oak had been in Jervis Bay's place, it is almost certain that Scheer would not have engaged.
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The USN had torpedo boats at the turn of the century, but does not appear to have been interested in using them, as many seem to have spent nearly their entire life in reserve. I have speculated about the feasibility of securing maybe four of them inside the Dewey drydock, to take a piggy back ride to the Philippines, where inter-island patrol would fit their capabilities.
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@JeffEbe-te2xs they may have had some utility around the Caribbean, after 98. But the Philippines seems the most natural place for short range, shallow draft, ships. The trick is getting them there. Getting the first squadron of destroyers there was enough of a challenge. That's why I wonder about the Dewey giving them a piggy back. When the Dewey was moved to the Philippines, it was the longest tow ever completed successfully, up to that time.
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@HseanIraqi The Courageouses were completed in time to see some action in WWI. Before the advent of the Battlecruiser, there were plenty of armored cruisers around in the 14-15,000 ton range. The Washington treaty prohibited signatories building new cruisers in excess of 10,000 tons. The Washington treaty also prohibits signatories building ships that exceed treaty limits for anyone else. With the US, UK, Japan, France, and Italy taken out of contention, there is not a lot of shipbuilding capacity left to build cruisers that would not be constrained by the treaty, and not many countries that could pay for a really big cruiser. Postwar, the Soviets built the Kirov class, nudging 25,000 tons and over 800 feet long.
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