When the naval battle between the American fleet and the German Navy in the Azores came to an end, it was already late at night in Washington. Yet the presidential office at the White House remained brightly lit. President Woodrow Wilson, Secretary of State Bryan, Secretary of the Navy Daniels, Minister of War Harrison, Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo, and the others had all gathered there.
Before General Henry Mayo led the fleet to attack the German Atlantic Fleet, he had already reported back to the homeland. Minister Daniels had approved his battle plan. At the same time, the American Navy had regarded General Henry Mayo's offensive as the crucial battle that would turn the tide and defeat the German Navy. He had even optimistically believed that if the American fleet could eliminate the German Atlantic Fleet without losing a single hair, then heavily damage or even annihilate the German Home Fleet at a relatively small cost, the naval balance between the two nations would undergo a fundamental change.
Although the German Navy still had three fleets and more than twenty capital ships, it had to spread its forces across the globe. The Western Pacific alone required Germany to commit several capital ships. As the naval strength of the Island Nation grew stronger and stronger, Germany would have to invest even more power there. In that case, the United States would be able to gain the upper hand in the Atlantic Ocean.
However, that had always been nothing more than Minister Daniels's optimistic assessment. In reality, the war would never proceed as smoothly as he claimed. If the German Navy had truly been so easy to defeat, it could never have beaten the British Royal Navy and dominated the world in the first place.
"Mr. President, gentlemen. A naval battle