Were any battleships comparatively quiet?

Which battleship or battlecruiser was the quietest?

None was truly quiet, although Italian ships may have been relatively quieter because their engines sat deep in the hull.

No battleship or battlecruiser could reasonably be described as quiet. The label is unsuitable across the category, so there is no obvious design to select. Italian capital ships are offered only as a tentative relative candidate because their engines were buried deep inside the hull. This is a cautious comparison rather than a measured ranking of shipboard sound levels.