The critique of the German-style layout concerns more than appearance. Its turret distribution reverses the arrangement used by Renown and Repulse. A two-aft, one-forward battery still requires protected spaces at both ends of the ship, so it loses the compactness offered by full concentration. It also places two-thirds of the main-battery magazines, shell handling, and explosive risk above the engines and propeller-shaft routes. The single forward turret supplies some distributed survivability, but the most dangerous concentration remains beside vital propulsion spaces. The arrangement complicates survivability without delivering the economy of a fully concentrated battery.
Notable Point · 2:43-4:16
Why an aft-heavy battery can create a vulnerability
An aft-heavy two-aft, one-forward battery still needs protection at both ends while concentrating magazines above machinery and propeller shafts.