Why the Columbia class chased ocean-liner speed

The Columbia design began with a narrow operational requirement: overtake fast liners and either protect American trade or destroy enemy commerce. Foreign liners mattered because they could be converted into armed merchant cruisers and then prey on American shipping. That threat pushed the class toward exceptional range and sustained speed rather than balanced cruiser combat power. The premise aged badly because liner speed improved so quickly that a specialized cruiser could lose its defining advantage within little more than a decade.