Pretty much what you're reading on the label: is it possible for the RN 3rd Battle Squadron to fight a battleship vs. battleship fleet action against significant heavy units of the IJN before all of its old 'R' battleships get sent home for obsolescence?
Though! The IJN kept the battle line in reserve most of the war and Sommerville acted with due caution in the face of Japanese air superiorty. If the Japanese loose air superiority the RN is going to get bolder but the IJN will be more cautious.
I can see the possibility of Guadalcanal-like night battles but they´d most likely involve HMS Warspite as she was both better protected and faster. The old R´s are best used for convoy escort or shore bombardments.
edit: Some info about the night combat:
Question:
Just out of couriosity. What would have happened if the roles had been reversed and
Kirishima put a dozen or more 14 inch shells into
Washington? On the one had
Washington is an actual battelship and a brand new one but at a range of under 9,000 yards the shell´s trajectory will be rather flat. IIRC post WW1 BB-designes empasised protection from high angle plunging fire?
Answer:
I don't have any of the US warship bibles, but my gut reaction is that
Washington would be distinctly unhappy, but not anywhere near as unhappy as
Kirishima.
The first question is whether
Kirishima's guns could penetrate
Washington at what both navies considered knife fight in a phonebooth range.
Washington has the weakest protection of the US modern battleships (12" inclined at 15° on a 0.75" STS backing for the belt, and 16" max for the barbettes). Given my back of the envelope calculations, that gives Washington 13"-16" of effective armor. According to the Lundgren/Worth
armor penetration tables over at Warships1,
Kirishima's shells would have a similar trajectory (between 4.1° at 6K yards and 6.9° at 10K yards), with effective penetration of 17-20" of US Class A plate. Effective penetration is defined as "The projectile will usually retain intact its explosive filler cavity, a seated base plug, and a working fuze. Other damage to the shell is not addressed in this definition. The Effective Limit may be at a velocity equal to or above Holing Limit, or it may be impossible at any striking velocity under the given impact conditions." So, depending on the range, it is possible for
Kirishima's shells to penetrate
Washington. However, that assumes that the shell is not decapped by passing through the armored deck first. It's a valid point, because that
did happen to one of
Kirishima's shells that hit
South Dakota.
So I would guess that it is possible for
Kirishima to penetrate
Washington. But the shells fired are ~1300 pounds lighter, and
Washington is newer, better armored, and considerably better subdivided. She won't be shattered the way
Kirishima was. Barring some bad luck, I'd bet on
Washington to need time in a naval yard, but that is about it.
Conclusion:
Old or new matters little in a night(=short range) battle. Tactical surprise is the decisive factor.