KGV was actually pretty typical for a late-stage battleship and pretty comparable in speed to the North Carolina, South Dakota and Yamato classes; Iowa was a singularity among designs because it combined the speed of a battlecruiser and the armor of a battleship where previously any given nation had only had financial and technological resources for "speed or armor, pick ONE." (Ironically, Jacky Fisher's battlecruiser concept found itself best fulfilled with the aircraft carrier, a fast warship with long-range weaponry.
28 knots was pretty typical for the "last generation" but still a bit too slow to keep up with the carrier task forces they found themselves escorting; ironically the older and slower ships like Tennessee found a second life in Naval Gunfire Support where speed was of less importance.
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