The complaint was not simply that Mitchell demonstrated air power against a battleship. The Navy intended to pause between attacks so investigators could inspect the progressive effects of heavy bombs on a warship. Ostfriesland was sunk before the damage from the earlier strike could be examined. A dramatic result displaced the controlled evidence the exercise was designed to collect.
Notable Point · 48:07-48:51
Why Billy Mitchell's Ostfriesland attack frustrated the US Navy
The Navy objected because the rapid sinking of Ostfriesland prevented inspection of progressive bomb damage, undermining the experiment's learning value.