At the outbreak of war, the Fifth Battle Squadron grouped the three Formidable-class ships with five London-class ships. Their common organization supports the view that the London design was closely related to Formidable despite its separate class label. More broadly, the Royal Navy built sovereign-style battleships in groups intended to form an eight-ship battle squadron. That practice tied procurement numbers to tactical organization rather than treating every hull as an isolated addition to a fleet total. Class boundaries, construction programs, and squadron doctrine therefore need to be read together.
Notable Point · 43:31-44:39
Building related battleships as an eight-ship squadron
The Fifth Battle Squadron’s three Formidables and five Londons reveal a Royal Navy practice of constructing related sovereign battleships as a tactical unit of eight.