The Nelsons are respected as the world's most advanced battleships for much of the 1920s and for the stories of their wartime service, despite their unusual all-forward main battery. Concentrating the machinery aft offered an opportunity to design in space and plumbing for later boiler additions. A faster refitted Nelson class would have been much more threatening to raiders and could have changed the practical value of its 16-inch guns.
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Nelson class and the missed chance for speed
Nelson and Rodney combine major historical importance with a disliked all-forward layout and a speed upgrade that could have been planned in.