Queen Elizabeth trades a fifth turret for speed

The Queen Elizabeth hull preserves evidence of a live trade-off between a fifth 15-inch turret and more propulsion power. Britain chose eight heavy guns and used the available volume for twenty-four water-tube boilers driving four shafts at 75,000 shaft horsepower. The resulting 24-knot speed narrowed the margin on which German battlecruisers relied to disengage. A 13-inch waterline belt preserved battleship protection rather than gaining speed through battlecruiser vulnerability. The design combined heavier firepower, protection, and greater speed without reaching the limit of British construction capacity.