Could U.S. standard battleships escort western Atlantic convoys under neutrality patrols?

Could U.S. standard battleships escort western Atlantic convoys under neutrality patrols?

They could, but the decision depended on American willingness to risk escalation and on the distinction between submarine attacks and surface raiding under cruiser rules.

U.S. standard battleships could have escorted traffic in the western Atlantic under a neutrality-patrol policy. Whether they would do so depended on how much involvement Washington was willing to risk. American opposition to submarine attacks had an established precedent from World War I. Interposing warships against surface raiders operating under cruiser rules created a different political and legal problem.