Fisher's commerce-oriented battle cruiser was meant to cruise at long range and overwhelm smaller ships while avoiding equal opponents. Tiger instead approached a faster battle line from the battlecruiser side, combining the 28-knot threshold with heavier fighting qualities. The Queen Elizabeth class approached the same problem from the battleship side. A modest gain beyond 28 knots could demand disproportionate sacrifices in armor, firepower, or safety, which helps distinguish a commerce-raiding battle cruiser from a capital ship able to support a faster battle line.
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Why HMS Tiger approached the fast-battleship idea
Tiger's 28-knot speed and unusually heavy battlecruiser design are placed on the boundary between Fisher's cruising concept and the emerging fast battleship.