The proposed ships paired 28-knot speed with twelve 15-inch guns, twenty 6-inch guns, twenty Yarrow boilers, and four Parsons turbines. This combination reflects a design shaped by Mediterranean operations rather than an abstract race for specifications. Its speed and firepower were intended to dominate a confined theatre in which fleets might have to fight for access rather than range freely. Control of the Mediterranean affected the Royal Navy's route through the Suez Canal toward the Far East, making Italian capital-ship strength a threat to a critical imperial pipeline. Machinery and armament choices therefore followed from geography, communications, and the movement of British naval power between theatres.
Chapter · 5:14-7:25
Designing for the Mediterranean and Suez access
The class combined 28-knot speed, heavy guns, and British-influenced machinery for a Mediterranean strategic problem.