Concentrating magazines and turrets simplified protection, yet it also placed the entire main battery in one part of the hull and left no direct stern fire. An all-forward battery is easier to justify when a flight deck occupies the stern, as on later aviation-capable warships, but Nelson had no equivalent use for the empty arc. The French answer divided a quadruple turret into two paired gun groups behind an internal bulkhead. Half a turret was unlikely to remain useful after a serious internal explosion. Damage to balance, training machinery, and crew spaces could still disable the complete mount, so nominal subdivision did not guarantee usable surviving firepower.
Notable Point · 1:14:08-1:20:10
Concentrated firepower also concentrated risk
All-forward batteries saved protected length but exposed a ship to losing much of its firepower in one damaged area.