The Great White Fleet was obsolete but not useless

The Great White Fleet began its world cruise after HMS Dreadnought had transformed battleship standards. Its ships were technically yesterday's design, but they remained majestic, globally visible, and dangerous in aggregate. The transition from ironclads and pre-dreadnoughts to the dreadnought era was not a clean overnight break in practical usefulness. Some ironclad-era cruisers may even have been better proportioned than early dreadnought-era cruisers. The outcome of a hypothetical fight between the entire American fleet and Dreadnought is left open. The example shows that a revolutionary ship would still face a formidable mass of older firepower. Procurement therefore has to distinguish between losing first-line status and losing all operational or diplomatic value.