Borodino class: speed and refit potential

The ships' deck space, twenty-five Yarrow boilers, and 26.5-knot design speed make them attractive modernization candidates. Replacing the original plant with small-tube boilers might have pushed them toward 30 knots, while their 14-inch guns would remain dangerous. Soviet retention on the model of the Gangut class could therefore produce useful fast capital ships in a later war. Their presence might complicate Japanese planning in the Pacific or German operations if they were reassigned to the Black Sea. During the First World War, Baltic deployment could also force Germany to divide fast units between the Baltic and North Sea.