Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:05:28-1:05:50

The US Navy considered an all-aft battery

An all-aft battleship arrangement was considered for the same displacement-saving logic behind Nelson's all-forward battery.

Battleship DesignMain Battery LayoutNelson Class BattleshipsUS Navy
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Question

Did anyone consider putting a battleship's entire main battery aft?

Short answer

Yes, the US Navy considered it but rejected it; the aim was the same concentration and displacement economy as an all-forward battery.

Notes

The US Navy examined an all-aft main battery but did not adopt it. The study shows that concentrating every main turret at one end was not unique to the Royal Navy's Nelson-class solution. Both the all-aft proposal and Nelson's all-forward arrangement pursued the same design logic. Concentrating the battery allowed designers to extract more fighting power from a limited hull size and displacement.