re: #126 Shiplord Kirel

Since I could identify the Argus on sight and knew that the Hood’s engines were designed in 1916, it might be apparent that I knew that as well.

The Hood was a victim of its own reputation and status in many ways. Within the fleet, the Hood had always been under suspicion as a “tinclad” that sacrificed armor for speed. It was the largest warship in the world when commissioned in 1920, but it took a hell of a big and heavy power-plant to generate 144,000 horsepower in those days. Scheduled, and badly needed, modernization had been repeatedly delayed and had still not been carried out by the time of the Denmark Strait battle. Before the war, this was mainly because of the expense, and the demand for the Hood as a flag-showing prestige vessel.
A major rebuild was scheduled to correct the various defects, but operational requirements dictated more delays after the war broke out.
The Bismark was only slightly larger and had about the same speed and similar main armament but benefited from later technology throughout. In particular, its much lighter but more powerful machinery allowed it to be much more heavily armored.

Battle Cruisers were just a piss-poor idea from the get-go. Such large, expensive capital ships couldn’t be left out of the line of battle, where their superior speed was no use, and their lighter armor was fatal.