The Royal Navy already possessed a fast-battleship design tradition, so the Admirals' battlecruiser identity was a deliberate choice rather than a missing concept. In this interpretation, they were designed less for the war being fought than for the oceanic conflict the Admiralty expected to follow it. Battlecruisers could hunt enemy commerce raiders, support trade protection, and conduct raiding while cruisers and battleships guarded convoys. That mission rewarded strategic mobility and reach even after Jutland exposed the risks of using battlecruisers in a fleet line. The Admiralty also anticipated that postwar governments would cut spending, so wartime construction offered a narrow chance to secure ships for the next strategic problem.
Notable Point · 1:22:45-1:24:55
The Admirals were designed for the next oceanic war
The historical Admiral class remained battlecruisers because the Admiralty expected a manoeuvre-heavy oceanic war centred on commerce protection and raiding after 1918.