Q&A ยท 28:41-29:00

How Senator Tillman would answer Incomparable

A British Incomparable would encourage the pro-Navy Senator Tillman to demand the largest American battleship Congress and industry would accept.

Question

What would Senator Tillman propose if Britain built Incomparable?

Short answer

He would press for the largest Tillman battleship the United States could build.

Notes

If Incomparable appeared while Senator Benjamin Tillman could respond to it, he would likely select the largest Tillman design available. A later clarification rejects the idea that the designs were merely satire meant to discourage construction. Tillman was pro-Navy and believed the United States should build the greatest ship it could rather than proceed through smaller steps. The British ship would therefore become justification for an immediate leap in American capital-ship scale.