Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 39:55-40:04

Why the last Revenge-class orders became Renown and Repulse

A brief procurement answer treats the change from the final Revenge-class orders to Renown and Repulse as evidence of Royal Navy regret over building the R class instead of more Queen Elizabeths.

Naval ProcurementQueen Elizabeth Class BattleshipsRenown Class BattlecruisersRevenge Class Battleships
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Question

Did the Royal Navy regret building the Revenge class instead of more Queen Elizabeth-class battleships?

Short answer

Yes; the last two R-class orders becoming Renown and Repulse are cited as evidence of that regret.

Notes

The final two R-class orders became Renown and Repulse, evidence that the Royal Navy was already trying to move away from further ships of the same type. The change supports an emphatic answer that the service regretted building the Revenge class instead of more Queen Elizabeths. The source passage is brief and does not compare the classes feature by feature. Its value lies in the procurement reversal itself.