Beam, torpedo protection, and the risks of new turrets

The exchange links beam to the length-to-beam ratio and the effort to gain speed from coal-fired boilers. A wider triple-turret ship might produce useful proportions, but propulsion and support requirements would offset some of that advantage. The Royal Navy already possessed reliable twin turrets, while a new triple mounting might introduce defects that were difficult to repair far from home. Mixed odd and even gun counts could also complicate salvo observation just as engagement ranges and fire-control practice were changing rapidly. Keeping the mounting and firing sequence simple had a genuine operational case, although it did not settle the design debate. Some of these reasons may be later justifications, and Britain's alliance with the major naval power far from Europe weakened the overseas-support argument.