Jellicoe's known advocacy for a sixth Queen Elizabeth-type ship connects him closely to the counterfactual design. Argencourt is therefore one of the few ships that might draw him away from Iron Duke. At 28 knots, the flagship could move ahead of the battle line to gather information and send orders back rather than depending entirely on Beatty's reports. Its 18-inch guns would make encounters with earlier German dreadnoughts exceptionally destructive. Keeping the ship with Jellicoe would also resolve the competition between battle-fleet and battlecruiser-fleet employment. One ship might transform an engagement without necessarily changing the war's strategic outcome.
Notable Point · 1:31:03-1:34:21
A fast Argencourt in Jellicoe's Grand Fleet
A 28-knot, 18-inch-gun Argencourt might have been especially valuable as Jellicoe's flagship and an independent scouting asset.