Tillman IV’s impractical concentration of twenty-four 16-inch guns still drew a useful institutional response. The Bureau of Ordnance began pressing for studies of 18-inch weapons rather than ever more elaborate arrangements of the existing calibre. The sequence connects that shift with Tillman’s repeated demand to combine speed, firepower, and armour in one battleship. An extreme political requirement could redirect technical investigation even when the paper ship itself was unworkable.
Notable Point · 26:49-27:33
Tillman IV pushes the Bureau of Ordnance toward 18-inch guns
After the 24-gun Tillman IV study, the Bureau of Ordnance urged designers to consider 18-inch weapons instead of continuing to multiply 16-inch guns.