The Bellerophons were improved repeats of HMS Dreadnought rather than a wholly new departure. The Royal Navy could move from one short class to the next, then raise its standard again when speed or armament requirements changed. Germany supplied pressure through numbers, while American and Italian designs pushed Britain toward stronger technical responses. This rapid design cycle depended on the capacity to keep building ships in quick succession.
Notable Point · 8:05-8:44
Bellerophon and the Royal Navy's rapid design cycle
The Bellerophon class shows how British industrial scale supported repeated, incremental battleship classes while foreign navies supplied pressure for larger changes.