 The Admiral @-@ class battlecruisers were to have been a class of four British Royal Navy battlecruisers designed near the end of World War I. Their design began as an improved version of the Queen Elizabeth @-@ class battleships , but it was recast as a battlecruiser after Admiral John Jellicoe , commander of the Grand Fleet , pointed out that there was no real need for more battleships , but that a number of German battlecruisers had been laid down that were superior to the bulk of the Grand Fleet 's battlecruisers and the design was revised to counter these . The class was to have consisted of HMS Hood , Anson , Howe , and Rodney — all names of famous admirals — but the latter three ships were suspended as the material and labour required to complete them was needed for higher @-@ priority merchantmen and escort vessels . Their designs were updated to incorporate the lessons from the Battle of Jutland , but the Admiralty eventually decided that it was better to begin again with a clean @-@ slate design so they were cancelled in 1919 . No more battlecruisers would be built due to the arms limitations agreements of the interbellum . 
