Both Delaware-class ships carried the same stated design figure of 25,000 shaft horsepower, yet their measured indicated horsepower diverged sharply. North Dakota generated 33,875 indicated horsepower without turning that full advantage into a proportionate increase over Delaware's trial speed. The limitations of direct-drive turbines suggest that more efficient use of the available power might have produced a 23-knot ship. That speed is a period-plausible possibility rather than an achieved result. The comparison keeps recorded trials data separate from the design potential inferred from those data.
Notable Point · 23:20-25:40
What North Dakota's trial figures imply about unrealized speed
The gap between North Dakota's high indicated horsepower and her recorded speed leads to a cautious estimate that better transmission of turbine power might have produced a 23-knot dreadnought.