Why Vanguard can be read as a fully armored battlecruiser

Alex Clarke classifies Vanguard as a fully armored battlecruiser because of her internal subdivision and intended independent service. In this interpretation, armor governs resistance to the initial hit, while subdivision limits the spread of internal damage and the consequences of subsequent hits. Independent patrols and reconnaissance also require room for stores and habitable spaces during long deployments. Vanguard's established guns and turrets gave designers more freedom to modify the surrounding ship than Lion's new weapons allowed. Her post-treaty design could therefore improve on earlier systems without resolving the classification by armor quality alone. The argument places Vanguard between the contemporary fast battleship and battlecruiser, with subdivision carrying as much classificatory weight as armor.