Do you have any concept of how quickly warships changed between 1906 and 1914? Or the difference between a 16,000 ton 1st Generation (in fact
pre 1st Generation) Dreadnought and a 27,000 ton early Super-dreadnought? The USN did, that was why,
DURING World War One, they retired South Carolina to training duty (BTW: the one time they actually tried to use her as a troop convoy escort she suffered an engineering casualty and had to limp back to New York for repairs)
USS Houston was anything but obsolete. She and her
Northampton Class sisters were unlucky, but far from obsolete. The
Porpoise, Salmon, & Sargo class boats assigned to Hart's command were anything but obsolete. The PBY assigned to Asiatic Fleet were anything but obsolete. The sub and seaplane tenders were far from obsolete.
What were OLD, but far from obsolete, were the 12 four stack destroyers (as the ghosts of any number of U-boat crews would be willing to attest)and the
Marblehead.
It has long been convenient for some to proclaim the ABDA fleet was doomed because the ships were old and out of date. This is NOT supported by the facts (including the most important proof that the surviving ships were used in WAR ZONES until the end of WW II). They were caught in a severely lopsided force correlation match-up, poorly, if quite bravely managed, deprived of adequate air cover, and flat outfought by the IJN.
Thanks for the spelling tip.
I know you either have no clue of what you are talking about or know better than any of us here; I just haven't been quite able to figure out which.