Fast battleship
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A fast battleship was a battleship which in concept emphasised speed without undue compromise of either armor or armament. Most of the early World War I-era dreadnought battleships were typically built with low design speeds, so the term "fast battleship" is applied to a design which is considerably faster. The extra speed of a fast battleship was normally required to allow the vessel to carry out additional roles besides taking part in the line of battle, such as escorting aircraft carriers.
HMS Queen Elizabeth, the first "fast battleship" of the Dreadnought era, in 1918
French battleship Dunkerque
USS Missouri, among the last "fast battleships", would serve until 1992
Figure 1. Concept that maneuverability and armament were more important than speed. A slower ship with larger guns could render a speedier ship's advantage moot.
The Queen Elizabeth-class battleships were a group of five super-dreadnoughts built for the Royal Navy during the 1910s. These battleships were superior in firepower, protection and speed to their Royal Navy predecessors of the Iron Duke class as well as preceding German classes such as the König class. The corresponding Bayern-class ships were generally considered competitive, although the Queen Elizabeth class were 2 knots (3.7 km/h) faster and outnumbered the German class 5:2. The Queen Elizabeths are generally considered the first fast battleships of their day.
Queen Elizabeth in her original configuration at Lemnos, 24 April 1915
Right plan and elevation drawing from Brassey's Naval Annual 1923; the shaded areas represent the ships' armour plating
Queen Elizabeth c. 1918 showing the two aft port secondary casemates plated over
Forecastle deck gun as added to all ships in 1915–1916, here seen on Warspite after Jutland