How dock limits shaped Bretagne's ten-gun broadside

The 1912 French battleship program adapted the Courbet design to carry 340 mm guns while saving construction time. A proposal for twenty 305 mm guns in mixed quadruple and twin turrets was discarded because its firepower was considered insufficient. Larger twin turrets increased weight, while existing graving docks restricted the hull's dimensions. Five twin turrets on the centerline eventually provided a ten-gun broadside, with four guns available ahead or astern. The amidships turret occupied the space between the funnels in a hull limited to 166 meters. Gun arrangement, displacement and dock capacity were parts of the same design problem.