Hood and Prince of Wales were the fastest force that could be assembled and sent where it was needed. Replacing Hood with Renown in the counterfactual does not create an ideal squadron because the Admiralty was working from location, readiness, and time rather than a clean design exercise. A preferred fast Atlantic group would combine Hood and Renown with Ark Royal, but wartime commanders could not wait for every desired ship to gather. A navy fights with the ships available at the point of need rather than the ideal force shown on its paper order of battle.
Notable Point · 3:02:26-3:07:32
Fighting with ships actually available
The Bismarck pursuit shows how readiness and location constrain wartime force design beyond a navy's paper order of battle.