The earlier HMS Renown tests the claim that an old ship had no remaining combat value. Her four 10-inch and ten 6-inch guns compared favorably with the 8.3-inch batteries of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, although her lower speed would have constrained employment. Had Renown remained available, she could have strengthened the British force at Coronel without replacing a modern battlecruiser in every mission. The counterfactual makes the opportunity cost of disposal concrete: an imperfect reserve ship may still be the reinforcement a distant squadron lacks when war begins.
Notable Point · 2:05:19-2:06:57
HMS Renown shows the cost of scrapping an intermediate warship
The 1895 Renown was slower than the German armored cruisers at Coronel but offered heavier guns that could have materially reinforced the British squadron.