Forced draught increased the Astraea class's machinery output when additional speed was needed. For ordinary deployment, the stated range was about 7,000 nautical miles at ten knots. Edgar is credited with roughly 10,000 nautical miles, while the Centurion battleship had a much shorter range. Global cruiser work rewarded endurance even when a ship lacked battleship firepower or protection. The brief return to an Edgar-Centurion hybrid is an explicit what-if, separate from the historical range figures.
Notable Point · 29:58-31:36
Astraea's range supports worldwide cruiser service
A 7,000-nautical-mile cruising range made Astraea useful overseas and highlights why cruisers could out-range contemporary battleships.