The notional American ship's 23-knot speed forms part of a wider machinery tradeoff. American ships needed to travel long distances, and an engine suited to steady cruising did not automatically deliver high maximum speed efficiently. Long-distance cruising and high-speed operation place competing demands on turbine and engine design. Separate turbines for cruising and high-speed operation offer one way to reconcile them. Such an arrangement depends on turbine efficiency being sufficiently developed to make it useful.
Notable Point · 1:15:06-1:17:45
Range, speed, and American machinery
The American emphasis on long-distance steaming helps explain why extracting more speed from battleship machinery was not a simple design choice.