An additional roughly 6,200 tons over Nelson and Rodney's standard displacement is spent on speed, range and endurance rather than extra main guns. Reaching 28 knots still requires substantial machinery and hull investment. The larger hull retains Nelson-level armour and firepower while removing the historical class's principal operational weakness. The thought experiment asks whether the United States would trade a fourth turret for speed and protection, perhaps pushing it toward triple or quadruple all-forward arrangements and more efficient machinery.
Notable Point · 1:00:01-1:04:22
What extra treaty tonnage does for a Nelson-type ship
An equitable treaty's larger allowance could preserve Nelson-level protection and guns while buying the 28-knot speed the historical ships lacked.