The proposed British answer to early disclosure of Yamato is a stretched Lion carrying twelve 16-inch guns at roughly 30 knots. The argument is that a three-knot speed advantage and a higher firing rate could offer an acceptable interim response to 18-inch guns. Howe and Anson had only recently been laid down in mid-1937, making their possible redesign part of the speculation. Existing 14-inch King George V ships could still serve in the North Atlantic while the larger ships answered the Japanese threat. A sustained fast-battleship program could reduce the attraction of Vanguard's use of available 15-inch guns. Carrier construction is expected to keep its priority in this scenario, leaving cruiser construction as another possible source of capacity.
Notable Point · 4:11:23-4:15:01
A stretched Lion as a hypothetical answer to Yamato
The Yamato counterfactual compares speed, rate of fire, design readiness, and competing shipbuilding programs in a proposed twelve-gun Lion.