A hypothetical four-ship Nelson class might have traded some armor for machinery capable of 25 or 26 knots. The discussion then broadens from design to personnel: particular officers repeatedly made ships excel in specialties such as gunnery or speed. A commander determined to find every available knot could upset an opponent's assumption that a heavily armed battleship would remain slow. Paper specifications alone did not capture the distinctive habits and priorities of the people operating the machinery.
Notable Point · 42:56-45:44
Commanders could stretch a battleship's performance
Gunnery and engineering-minded commanders show how leadership could extract performance that an opponent did not expect from a ship.