"Hood", the last of the eight "Royal Sovereign"-class battleships to be built, differed significantly from the other ships of her class in that she had a forward freeboard of only compared to of the other ships. The "Royal Sovereign"s had reverted to a higher freeboard after several classes of low-freeboard vessel had been constructed, the last being the . Low freeboard had been popular for around ten years since it required less armour and made a smaller target for gunfire to hit, although it had the disadvantage that it reduced seaworthiness. This low freeboard meant that "Hood" was very wet in rough weather and her maximum speed reduced rapidly as the wave height increased, making her only suitable for service in the relatively calm Mediterranean. This was seen as a vindication of the barbette/high-freeboard design in the rest of her class, and all subsequent British battleship classes had high freeboard.