What makes a fast battleship?

The proposed 24-knot improvement is conservative beside the much higher speeds of older battlecruisers. Nelson's 23 knots on 45,000 shaft horsepower support the argument that 50,000 shaft horsepower could drive the slightly faster alternative despite its beam. The 24-knot target also repeats the three-knot jump from pre-dreadnoughts to Dreadnought. Admiralty practice tended to limit each design evolution to about two major changes, which is why the Orions combined new guns and layout without also adopting oil firing. In this counterfactual, the next King George V step could combine triple turrets with oil power. Under the stricter definition used here, a true fast battleship needs about 28 knots, while a 24-knot ship remains a faster super-dreadnought.