Why Tillman wanted a maximum battleship

Tillman's maximum battleship was meant to establish a ceiling so formidable that another country would gain little prestige from trying to surpass it. Winning that contest would end the recurring demand to authorize a new American battleship every time a foreign design raised one statistic. Money and political attention could then move toward cruisers and other vessels that better served Tillman's constituency. Italian leadership in triple turrets and the fast Francesco Caracciolo class shows why he saw a moving technological target rather than a race confined to Britain, Germany, Japan, and the United States.