The global trade-map comparison gives the United States a different set of obligations from Britain, but its strategic neighbourhood is far from empty. The navies of Brazil, Argentina, and Chile had recently passed through their own dreadnought race and retained serious ships. Within living memory, those fleets could compare favourably with or exceed the US Navy at particular moments. Later American interest in acquiring a Chilean dreadnought after Pearl Harbor shows that these ships were more than curiosities. Naval power has to be measured against regional balances and wartime shortages rather than a simple permanent hierarchy.
Notable Point · 1:04:09-1:05:21
South American dreadnoughts shape the US strategic horizon
The fleets of Brazil, Argentina, and Chile remind viewers that American naval planning also faced a changing regional balance beyond the Pacific rivalry with Japan.