The issue was whether these dreadnoughts' motion was ideal for precision gunnery, rather than whether they were unsafe or incapable of sailing. Portsmouth, Devonport, Cammell Laird, and Scotts were capable builders, and the ships were designed around giving their large guns a stable firing platform. The results nevertheless fell short of the later Iron Duke and Queen Elizabeth classes. At maximum range, even half a degree of additional motion can produce a widely different shell spread because the ship's angle combines with the gun's ordered elevation at the instant of firing. Apparently marginal stability improvements could therefore matter even when the underlying ship remained a capable fighting platform.
Notable Point · 18:26-21:56
Why marginal stability mattered to long-range gunnery
Even a ship that handled adequately could lose accuracy at long range when small changes in roll and motion altered a gun's firing angle.