About the book: 2002 / The construction of the American fleet at the beginning of the 20th century had a number of interesting features arising from both the geographical location and the economic power of the country, back in 1890 took first place in the world in terms of industrial production. Separated from the main possible opponents (and allies) by oceans, the United States was, therefore, less vulnerable to invasion and could afford quite bold and even exotic experiments with the types and design of ships (one can recall at least two-tiered towers and the famous openwork masts). At the same time, the Americans readily accepted foreign experience and new trends from Europe (especially from England), but invariably refracted it through the prism of their national strategy and ideas of what exactly a battleship should be. As a result, there were no “accidental” battleships in the US Navy that appeared only because someone else had similar ones, or simply because some influential person in the US liked them. All battleships were built at their own shipyards, the projects were purely American, and during the transition from one type to the next, a continuous line of development was traced, without much hesitation or “throwing” to the sides. American battleships, and then dreadnoughts, were easy to distinguish from ships of any other fleet, even just by their appearance.