Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 6:36-8:06

Small-tube boilers and a 28-knot battle line

A boiler counterfactual shows how reliable small-tube machinery might have made 28 knots the Royal Navy's First World War battleship standard.

BattleshipsNaval PropulsionQueen Elizabeth Class BattleshipsRevenge Class BattleshipsRoyal Navy
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Question

What if the Royal Navy had trusted small-tube boilers for a 28-knot Queen Elizabeth design in 1913-14?

Short answer

The Royal Navy broadly wanted such a ship, but industry judged the boilers unready; success could have produced a much faster battle line and reshaped the Revenge class.

Notes

Industrial concern about reliability and safety, rather than lack of naval interest, blocked the proposed machinery. The slower Revenge class might then have adopted three triple 15-inch turrets to save length and weight while retaining speed. Completing six Queen Elizabeths and eight revised Revenges would have given the Royal Navy fourteen fast capital ships. That force could have entered the next war around a 28-knot baseline rather than a mixture of fast and slow battle-line units.