“…While power can be measured in terms of GNP and GDP, it can also, as McKercher stresses, be 'computed in the numbers of troops, ships and aeroplanes, and other implements of war, and their strategic dispositions available to support diplomatic initiatives'. 52 Until the Second World War, the most powerful weapon of war, or, as Reynolds puts it, 'the 1900s equivalent of modern strategic missiles -the international symbol of power and status' was the battleship. 53 By January 1896, after Cleveland's threat was issued, Britain had 44 battleships, while the US, its potential power notwithstanding, had 'only one really first-class' battleship.…”