Comments by "" (@RedXlV) on "The Drydock - Episode 019" video.

That 28 knots compares pretty well to the 29 knot Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates. Which despite not originally being intended for that role, the Perrys were often assigned to carrier battle groups and the Iowas' surface action groups. And Drachinifel mentioned the possibility that Montana could've seen a more extensive refit replacing the aft turrets with a large missile battery. If that had been done it would've involved removing 3,500 tons from the turrets alone, plus whatever the weight of the barbettes was, and replacing them with missile launchers that weigh a lot less. And the missiles themselves would also probably weigh less than the nearly 1,000 tons worth of 16" shells that would no longer be carried in the aft magazines. Even for a ship that huge, we're talking about probably more than a 5% reduction in total weight. That's going to result in at least some increase in speed, possibly enough to cross the 30 knot threshold.
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The gap between Littorio and Vittorio Veneto's compeletion and that of Richelieu was only 2 months. Your response seemed to be implying a much longer gap.
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