A Japanese cruiser intended to maximize 8-inch firepower could have been designed around four triple mounts instead of five twins. The counterfactual extends to Mogami's 155 mm armament: a Japanese quadruple mount might have given British designers a working example when their own quadruple 6-inch concept appeared too complicated. In that scenario, Crown Colony-class cruisers and ships such as HMS Belfast might have emerged with quadruple turrets. These ships remained hypothetical. The example shows how one navy's successful engineering choice could alter another navy's willingness to accept technical risk.
Notable Point · 1:04:00-1:05:30
A quadruple-turret cruiser counterfactual
A speculative four-turret Japanese design becomes a way to explore how successful foreign engineering might have changed British cruiser armament.