The cruisers were powerful ships carrying four 10-inch and sixteen 6-inch guns, and they were capable of breaking through any screen of the German light cruisers of the Karlsruhe type; but they would be utterly at the mercy of the 28-knot battle-cruisers possessed by Germany, their best speed being only a little over 22 knots.
The destroyers, twenty in all, should never have been dispatched on such service. Their place was with the main fleet. Had the recommendations of the General Board been followed, we would have possessed, on this disastrous day, a dozen 27-knot scouts, and our main fleet, the first line of defence of the United States against invasion, would not have been left exposed on both flanks to the destroyer attacks of the enemy.
By the courtesy of the executive officer I found myself on the forward fire-control platform of the Oklahoma. As we cleared
