Q&A · 2:06:36-2:09:23

Fast Revenge-class battleships with 18-inch guns at Jutland

Four 26.5-knot, 18-inch-gunned British battleships would threaten German battlecruisers with both speed and overwhelming firepower.

Question

How would four fast 18-inch-gunned Revenge-class ships affect Jutland?

Short answer

They would give Britain a fast, heavily protected force able to catch German battlecruisers and inflict severe losses.

Notes

The answer expects four 26.5-knot Revenge-derived ships to keep contact with the German battlecruiser force while combining heavy armour with eight 18-inch guns. Their speed matches the Derfflinger class, but their protection and shell weight give them a radically more favourable exchange. The existing Queen Elizabeths would probably still support Beatty, while the new squadron could lead the Grand Fleet where the Third Battlecruiser Squadron historically suffered heavily. In that position the British fast battleships are more likely to deliver the punishment than absorb it. Fisher might still oppose the programme, but a completed force of this capability would be difficult to discard.