Re: It's not that unlikely
Hood was a battlecruiser built down to a spec and only modified -not completely redesigned - post Jutland. The RN always knew its deck armour was a compromise, and it was scheduled for a refit to correct this (to some extent). To this end it was paired with a full battleship for the Battle of the Denmark Strait, so both sides had a battlecruiser and a battleship.
As to the guns, a 15 inch gun on Hood could reach 30 km. And if you think the naval designers of the age couldn't calculate trajectory angles and that the captains don't know how to manoeuvre for best positioning of their armour versus the enemy's guns then go look up "immune zone" and consider the effort spent on the gun analogue computers to aim and fire them.
Repulse was attacked for the first time at 11:40, she was not actually hit for the first time until 12:20-ish. 19 torpedoes had missed her by that point. A lack of a anti-torpedo belt (as had been fitted to her sister ship) and compartmentation to a modern standard meant this hit and the following 3 were fatal.
Finally, regarding the British, all five QE-class and the five Revenge-class battleships built in First World War were still in service at the start of the Second. If a battleship went of service in the 1920s, it was as much a result of the disarmament treaties downsizing navies.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
