What 600-psi boilers could do for Hood

How fast could Hood become in a 1930s refit using 600-psi boilers?

Keeping a full boiler installation might add three or four knots, but designers could instead trade the efficiency gain for armor, space, or weight savings.

A 600-psi boiler installation offers a choice between more power and a smaller machinery plant. Hood might retain comparable performance with roughly eighteen boilers instead of twenty-four, freeing space and weight for armour or other uses. Keeping all twenty-four could add about 36,000 shaft horsepower, taking the estimate to roughly 180,000 and perhaps three or four additional knots. The faster version would probably need reinforcement around the bow. An early-1930s reconstruction is treated as feasible because the hull would still be relatively young.