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Gerd,
for the links, they help flesh out the story.

Packard was synonymous with the 12s in it's many forms since '15 til WW2. Many design iterations. Lots of mystique and inquiry. When I was at the Packard museum in Warren they had an exhibit on the marine engines. I don't know what the display schedule is now as they rotate.
PT's were made in various configurations as it was kicked off as a competition for design until harmonized. Packard was in the marine market with them to tune of tens of thousands. Maybe a contributor to the market blinder mentality that they had. Success breeds success, to a point...until one solely relies on it and fails to adapt.
I see two 12 cylinder down falls, weight and length. HP / Weight is more important than raw HP. Can't even imagine the prop cavitation in the Miss AM X when one hits the throttle. Larger prop diam gives grip but reduce top end. Must have multi-drives (more weight) One has to connect HP to the medium for movement. One reaches an optimum at some point with the chosen technology - can't get there from here.
We had a similar move in the big block V-8 era. Ultimately coming to a close when fuel consumption peaked and 500 was the number. They knew since the 1870s boosting was the equivalent of cubic inches, but for some reason, maybe political, mostly marketing, it never caught on even with the early Duesenburgs, etc. sporting blowers aka superchargers in the '20s, I recall. Conspiracists say the Std Oil/GM pact at play. Lots of whispers about miracle withheld MPG devices throughout auto history to sell more fuel. We burnt mega gasoline with that faux pas. Now you can go out and make 1000-1200 HP on pump gas with a near stock LS v8. Fits under a low hood too. Go figure? Many 2000 HPs without exotic fuels.
Now "boost" it's the "Holy grail" of "eco" friendly? Go figure?
There's some inherent unpleasant shaft dynamics when you add on more in a longer row. The V-16 was fraught with issues for the same, siamesing 2 8s, lead to quick demise. (try to find parts for those!)
Large multi cylinders like ship and stationary engines go slow rpms as they have massive torque. The Italians, Enzo in particular, went the other way and focused on smaller reciprocating parts/piston diam/stroke and higher rpm to overcome these inherent dynamic constraints.
This was kicked around here at least once before someone asked what the biggest V-12 was or could be. Search the site. Says I've been around too long, repeating myself.
It's reading season for me, so if anyone knows a good book title on P or general V-12 history pass it along. I don't do prewar but this is one historical/engineering area I enjoy.

Thanks, Mal for making this site even more content rich. Merry Christmas.