The Florida class is presented as an honest and capable dreadnought design armed with ten 12-inch guns. It could fight many contemporary battleships, though faster Royal Navy ships such as Queen Elizabeth, Hood, or Renown combined heavier 15-inch guns with the speed to control an engagement. Florida's directness of purpose is part of the praise: she looks and fights like the battleship she was intended to be. That respectable battle capability reinforces the organizational problem, because a sound battleship was still an awkward cornerstone for a scouting force.
Notable Point · 11:49-13:49
The Florida class illustrates the scouting-force paradox
USS Florida was a credible ten-gun dreadnought, but her qualities were those of a battleship rather than a reconnaissance vessel.