Did the US Navy truly believe one Hawkins-class cruiser could defeat its entire cruiser force?
Short answerThe concern had a real basis, but the most dramatic language also helped justify funding new American cruisers.
NotesThe Hawkins class was powerful enough to cause genuine concern, but every contemporary threat estimate should not be read literally. Navy advocates had an incentive to describe a foreign ship in the most alarming possible terms. A claim that Hawkins could sweep away the entire American cruiser force also functioned as a request to Congress for replacement construction. Historians should therefore compare the technical evidence with the institutional purpose served by the rhetoric.