What might Vickers design if its engineers were allowed to create one pre-World War I ship without restraint?
Short answerA fully oil-fired, roughly thirty-knot battleship carrying twelve 15-inch guns in four triple turrets.
NotesThe proposal extrapolates from ambitious designs already circulating before the First World War. Complete oil firing would help produce the power needed for a speed near thirty knots. Four triple 15-inch turrets would place twelve heavy guns on the ship. The combination is a plausible expression of a design team allowed to push an existing theoretical idea without normal restraint.