Revenge carried eight 15-inch guns and protection broadly comparable to or better than the Queen Elizabeth class in several areas. Its deck and bulkhead protection challenge the idea that the class was simply a cut-price successor. The conventional battery of eight 15-inch guns, fourteen 6-inch casemate guns, two 3-inch anti-aircraft guns, four 3-pounders, and four 21-inch torpedo tubes shows that the economy did not strip away the expected combat systems. The striking difference was propulsion: 18 boilers and 40,000 shaft horsepower produced roughly 21 knots, while much more power and a longer hull bought the Queen Elizabeths only a few additional knots. Similar beam, range, and conventional armament show that speed rather than fighting strength absorbed most of the saving. The design sought the least expensive viable battleship, not the cheapest possible hull.
Chapter · 35:46-42:12
Armor, machinery, and the speed tradeoff
A specification comparison shows that the R class was a conventional, well-protected design whose main economy was machinery for speed.