You asked for the reason and I gave it to you.
Under the logic you suggest those who already have the Tirpitz shouldn't be able to purchase the Tirpitz B, but alas you can because they are "different" ships (not talking about gameplay etc). I cannot mount a ARP Camo on my regular Myoko - because again - Different.
Your example regarding the Montana is just not the same, yes, you can own multiple perma-camos for ships, and its up to you to determine if you want to purchase additional perma camos. However, expecting a camo that is designated for one ship to work on another one... yeah. That doesn't work.
I apologise that you do not like the manner in which we have gone forward like this, but from the beginning these ships were designated as separate ships from their non-"b" variants.
Fem,
Off Topic: