Is 28 knots really the Queen Elizabeth class's maximum speed?
Short answerProbably not; the Royal Navy's use of 28 knots plus indicates that the plus sign is concealing a meaningful margin.
NotesRoyal Navy public speed figures should be read carefully when they include a plus sign. The service could publish a precise decimal if it merely meant a fraction above the stated number. Writing 28 knots plus therefore leaves meaningful performance undisclosed rather than defining 28 knots as the true maximum. The Queen Elizabeth class provides the example, but the same caution applies to other deliberately imprecise naval specifications.