A photograph of HMS Abercrombie shows the Roberts-class monitor's large protective bulges and concentration of the main armament forward. With the superstructure, machinery, and secondary weapons farther aft, the silhouette resembles the Nelson-class arrangement. The designs are not identical, although Nelson and Rodney can be read to an extent as a scaled-up variation on a layout already explored in monitors. The comparison suggests a Royal Navy habit of testing efficient arrangements in smaller specialist ships and applying successful ideas at a different scale.
Notable Point · 1:01:50-1:03:05
From monitor layout to the Nelson class
Abercrombie's guns-forward arrangement prompts a cautious comparison with Nelson and Rodney as larger expressions of a layout the Royal Navy had already used on monitors.