Strategic restraint behind the finished class

The Admiralty could see American gun-calibre progression, Japanese movement toward fast battleships, and the political limits on German construction. The delivered Queen Elizabeths were powerful enough that Germany struggled to justify a direct match; the Bayern class was closer in concept to the slower Revenge class. Quantitative competition concerned weapons and destructive capacity, while the qualitative race was driven partly by prestige and technical bragging rights. The Royal Navy accepted an advantage strong enough to lead without invalidating its own battle line or unnecessarily accelerating every rival's programme.