A 13.5- or 14-inch battery would add another major change to Dreadnought's turbine propulsion and all-big-gun layout. Elswick's 14-inch option provides the specific alternative considered. A heavier battery could make gun calibre part of the threshold by which other dreadnoughts were judged. German claims that an 11-inch weapon compared well with a 12-inch gun would become much harder to sustain against the larger calibre. This is a proposed consequence of the alternative design.
Notable Point · 3:49:46-3:51:09
How a 14-inch Dreadnought changes the naval benchmark
A heavier-armed Dreadnought could force rivals to meet a larger gun standard alongside turbines and an all-big-gun layout.