Canopus trial speeds versus operational endurance

Do Canopus's 1914 speed trials prove that she could keep up with Cradock's cruisers?

No. Brief trials reached higher figures, while the ship's own operational record and captain indicate about twelve knots as the sustainable speed.

The cited measured-mile trials record several runs above fifteen knots, including higher figures calculated from stopwatch timings between fixed markers. Those short tests did not account for campaign endurance, sea conditions, or the machinery's ability to sustain the pace. Captain Heathcoat Grant's account and the operational log instead support roughly twelve knots for extended steaming, with only brief bursts near fifteen. Canopus was therefore a powerful battleship reinforcement on paper whose practical speed could still constrain Cradock's cruiser operations.