As Tiger aged out of service, the Royal Navy would have a strong reason to prevent its fast force from falling below strength. Warspite's historically extensive reconstruction offered the clearest opportunity to test a 28-knot Queen Elizabeth by fitting new turbines, retaining more boiler capacity, and accepting other weight trades. If the concept worked, the class might receive a more standardized speed-focused program instead of spending resources on a different mix of older battleships such as Royal Oak. The result would also reduce the relative importance of France's Dunkerques within an Anglo-French fast-capital-ship force.
Notable Point · 1:01:55-1:06:39
Fast Nelsons could redirect Queen Elizabeth-class reconstruction toward speed
Maintaining a six-ship flying squadron could make 28-knot Queen Elizabeth-class rebuilds more valuable than historically chosen modernization priorities.