A major war before HMS Dreadnought could change which design lessons Jacky Fisher considered most urgent. Long engagements off the American coast would favour range and speed, while battle experience could strengthen the case for centreline armament. Because Fisher still doubted superfiring arrangements, triple turrets offered one way to preserve heavy forward fire without wing turrets. Demand for faster, longer-ranged ships would also accelerate adoption of small-tube boilers before a Queen Elizabeth-like generation appeared. The imagined designs show how wartime missions can feed back into armament layout and propulsion choices.
Notable Point · 2:24:21-2:27:40
How an early war might reshape dreadnought design
The counterfactual turns operational experience off the American coast into pressure for centreline guns, longer range, higher speed, and earlier small-tube boilers.