Q&A ยท 33:55-37:56

A faster, superfiring Dreadnought

A Dreadnought redesign explores how speed and turret layout could have changed later British and American capital ships.

Question

What changes would improve Dreadnought while respecting Fisher's demand for rapid construction?

Short answer

He would push early for superfiring turrets, higher boiler pressure, more speed, and somewhat heavier protection, using Dreadnought to accelerate later British design lessons.

Notes

The proposed target is roughly 24 knots rather than 21, achieved through higher boiler pressure and machinery available within contemporary technology. The redesign would also add somewhat heavier protection while working within Fisher's demand for rapid construction. Introducing superfiring turrets immediately would expose their early problems and let later British classes absorb the fixes sooner. A 24-knot British baseline would complicate American reliance on triple-expansion machinery and probably pull the Invincible class toward at least 28 knots. The counterfactual therefore changes the pace of the international design race as well as Dreadnought herself.