Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 53:20-53:44

Small-tube boilers and Revenge-class speed

Small-tube boilers might push the R class towards 28 knots because its machinery spaces were crowded but still offered room for improvement.

BattleshipsMarine BoilersNaval ModernisationRevenge Class BattleshipsWarship Speed
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Question

How fast might the Revenge class become with small-tube boilers?

Short answer

Potentially about 28 knots, because the crowded machinery spaces still offered enough room for a more efficient boiler installation.

Notes

The Revenge-class machinery layout was tighter than that of the Queen Elizabeth class, although it was not unusably cramped. Replacing the boilers with small-tube units could extract substantially more power from the available space. A speed of 28 knots is a possible upper result, rather than a guaranteed refit performance. Machinery volume and boiler technology constrain capital-ship modernisation.