The American gunboat program offers another example of political underinvestment in sea power. A small boat could carry a gun and be moved to a threatened point, which made the scheme look economical and flexible. It still lacked the size, height, protection, and mobility of a proper seagoing warship entering the same waters. A collection of local weapons had been sold as a substitute for the fleet the United States actually needed.
Notable Point · 42:22-42:59
Gunboats could not replace seagoing warships
Cheap gunboats that could be shifted along the coast offered local weapons but no answer to larger warships able to enter and fire down into them.