A French sixteen-gun 13-inch battleship

Would a French battleship with sixteen 13-inch guns be better than a conventional eight-gun 15-inch design?

It would be a very large ship and not clearly superior, but its extraordinary volume of fire could compensate for the smaller shell.

Caliber alone does not determine combat value. Sixteen 13-inch guns impose major size and treaty problems, yet they deliver enough shells to offset some loss in individual projectile performance. The result is different rather than decisively better: a ship built around volume of fire instead of fewer heavier blows.