An Admiral-class fast battleship would begin with more armour than a battlecruiser and might need fewer wartime revisions. The target speed is around 28 knots, perhaps falling to 26 or 27 knots as protection increases. Britain might then reach the treaty era with three or four ships of roughly 42,000 tons instead of one. American negotiators could overlook a single outlier more easily than a whole group of fast capital ships.
Notable Point · 1:18:36-1:19:42
Fast Admiral-class battleships and treaty pressure
A fast-battleship version of the Admiral class could have left Britain with several major ships that later treaty planners could not easily ignore.