The treaty limit did not erase Britain's accumulated capital-ship design expertise. Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt, Stanley Goodall, William Berry, Edward Attwood, and other specialists brought extensive experience in naval construction and warship production. Goodall's wartime work with the United States also shows how this expertise crossed national lines before Nelson was designed. The team could test many configurations, but 35,000 tons could not carry every desired combination of speed, armour, and firepower. Nelson emerged as a deliberate choice among costly compromises rather than an eccentric layout born of ignorance.
Notable Point · 22:11-24:51
Britain's constructor bench tackles the treaty tradeoffs
Nelson's unusual compromises emerged from a constructor team with extensive capital-ship experience working through a problem with no cost-free answer.