Tiger's strategic speed could put heavy guns at Singapore in time

Tiger's 1918 refit and continued retention fit the Royal Navy's worldwide response problem. British political and economic thinking treated the empire as a national necessity, leaving much of its Far Eastern defense to the navy. At a crisis cruising speed near 24 knots, a fast squadron could reach Singapore from Portsmouth in about fourteen days or from Malta in roughly ten. The slower battle fleet, advancing at about 18 to 21 knots, is estimated to need twenty-one days or more from Portsmouth. A hypothetical Japanese assault from Sasebo involved about seven days of steaming, with visible mobilization potentially giving another three or four days' warning. Fast ships already at Malta could therefore arrive in time if ordered to sail immediately. Their immediate purpose was deterrence through a visible naval presence while the larger fleet followed.