Appropriations favored prestige ships over fleet escorts

The Naval Appropriation Act of 1920 paid for maintenance and other naval needs without beginning a replacement destroyer programme. Capital ships, cruisers, and aircraft carriers carried visible national status and were easier to present as proof of first-rank power. Destroyers looked plentiful in inventory totals, even when their age and limitations reduced their value alongside the battle fleet. That emphasis left the Navy claiming equality with the Royal Navy without funding the escort base needed to operate on comparable terms. Carriers and tankers still required destroyers for screening, and a Pacific fleet needed enough modern escorts to cover long distances. The result was a fleet that looked first-rate on paper while lacking the modern escorts needed to operate those ships at distance.