How would the United States Navy react to the stronger Spanish naval policy proposed earlier in the stream?
Short answerIt would seek more funding, but Spain could deter intervention by combining colonial reform with routine guard-ship rotations, temporary exercise concentrations, port visits, and visible industrial readiness.
NotesThe United States would face pressure to answer a stronger Spanish fleet, although obtaining the money from Congress could be difficult. Spain need not keep its main battle force permanently in Cuba or the Philippines, where a sudden concentration could itself raise tensions. Routine guard-ship reliefs would let old and replacement battleships overlap for exercises, with cruisers and destroyers accompanying them. A delayed departure could prolong that temporary concentration during a crisis. Modern ships visiting American ports would display capability, while reciprocal visits would show American officers prepared crews, orderly facilities, and new construction. Older battleships could provide the everyday colonial presence without making the deployment as threatening as a station of the newest ships. This policy would not prevent the revival of the US fleet in the 1880s and 1890s, but it could make intervention less attractive. Political reform in Cuba remained the strongest deterrent because it could remove the unrest that invited intervention.