Royal Navy central-battery ships concentrated guns inside an armored citadel. Sponsoned deck structures allowed some weapons to fire ahead or astern, with HMS Alexandra offered as a leading example. Guns in this period could be designated by weight rather than caliber, which complicates modern comparisons. Italian designers then moved heavy guns toward en echelon beam positions to widen firing arcs without returning to a traditional broadside.
Notable Point · 2:09:32-2:10:19
Central batteries and en echelon gun layouts
Central-battery ships and beam-mounted guns show the search for ahead fire as gun nomenclature also changed.