Why high-pressure steam suited the US Navy

Was the US Navy's adoption of high-pressure steam a mistake hidden by strong logistics?

No; it was a sensible efficiency choice for Pacific range and speed, supported by a later and more mature standardization decision.

The US Navy needed ships to cross the Pacific at sustained cruising speed while working within displacement limits, making more efficient high-pressure machinery attractive. It also made its standardization decision roughly two years later than the Royal Navy, allowing additional development before fixing its wartime engineering plant. Higher power density left more displacement and internal volume for fuel, armor, weapons, or crew needs. Because US yards and repair bases sat on the Pacific coast, the Navy could also accept machinery complexity more readily than a Royal Navy planning to fight at the far end of its industrial network. The system's logistical demands were therefore part of a rational fleet-wide choice rather than evidence of a concealed mistake.