Why is Conway so harsh on the Queen Elizabeth class's armor compared with other accounts?
Short answerThe criticism fits a conventional battleship comparison, but the class was a transitional step toward fast battleships and should be judged in that design context.
NotesComparison with a conventional 21- or 22-knot battleship supports an argument for thicker armor. Queen Elizabeth was moving toward the fast-battleship role, however, and the suggested 28-knot performance is conditional on fitting small-tube boilers. The class is also described as a step toward all-or-nothing protection. Its armor therefore needs to be considered within a transitional design rather than against a single settled category. The answer declines to speculate about Conway's reasoning personally.