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By Robert Farley,The National Interest
This piece was originally published in 2017.
Earlier this week HMS Queen Elizabeth, the largest aircraft carrier ever built for the Royal Navy, began sea trials. The Queen Elizabeth class represents a massive leap forward for the Royal Navy, and the success or failure of the class will structure British seapower for the rest of the twenty-first century. Over a century ago, a different class of ships helped transform the Royal Navy: the Queen Elizabeth–class fast battleships.
The Queen Elizabeths represented a leap forward in battleship design almost equivalent in degree to that of HMS Dreadnought. After the construction of Iron Duke, the British Admiralty decided to pursue a class of ships that would be larger, more heavily armed and faster than any predecessor or any foreign competitor. First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill pushed the development of the fifteen-inch gun, capable of outdistancing the weapons carried by American, Japanese and especially German battleships. The bigger guns gave the QEs a broadside that was heavier and had more penetrative capability than the preceding Iron Dukes, in spite of carrying one less turret. The initial design provided for an armament of ten fifteen-inch guns in five twin turrets, but the Admiralty decided to sacrifice one turret in favor of a higher speed. This decision would be critical for the future of the class.
Perhaps of greatest consequence, a study by Jackie Fisher suggested that oil propulsion would be both possible and desirable. Oil was less labor intensive as a fuel than coal, and did not require the employment of a large number of stokers to maintain speed. While human endurance and difficulties associated with the transportation of coal around the ship had limited the duration at which a ship could maintain its highest speed, oil could be transported automatically and stored more efficiently. Oil produced less smoke, helping a ship avoid engagements and perform better during combat (smoke tended to obscure firing positions). Finally, oil burned more efficiently, allowing a higher speed. This higher speed put Queen Elizabeth in between battlecruisers and traditional battleships.
