The counterfactual becomes operational by placing four faster Nelson-like ships into the Royal Navy's Second World War force. In this notional fleet they join five R-class and five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, plus Hood, Renown, and Repulse while King George V and Prince of Wales approach service. They could watch for Bismarck, Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, and Gneisenau from the Home Fleet or reinforce the Mediterranean. Their 28-knot speed would let them operate with the 1939 King George V class rather than constrain a faster task group. An all-forward nine-gun battery could also bring unusually heavy forward firepower into confined operations such as the Norwegian campaign.
Chapter · 53:19-58:19
Four fast battleships change British deployments
A four-ship 28-knot class could reinforce the Home Fleet, Mediterranean, or Norway without lagging behind later King George V-class ships.