Design 16A closely matched Nelson and Rodney in beam and draft but used a longer hull on a 35,000-ton standard displacement. Its 45,000-shaft-horsepower plant delivered only twenty-three knots, while four twin turrets carried eight sixteen-inch guns alongside six twin six-inch mounts and four twin high-angle 4.7-inch mounts. Protection included a thirteen-inch belt abreast the magazines, an eleven-inch belt abreast machinery, heavy deck armor, and a one-and-a-half-inch torpedo bulkhead. The letter suffix matters because the Royal Navy's numbering system implies that at least one other sixteen-inch variant once existed. Four twins also improved damage tolerance: one disabled turret removed one quarter of the main battery rather than one third. That survivability choice cost substantial weight: compared with Nelson and Rodney, 16A was about 1,200 tons heavier and roughly thirty feet longer while carrying one fewer main gun.
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Design 16A favors twin-turret survivability at treaty displacement
The 35,000-ton 16A design combined eight sixteen-inch guns in four twin turrets with twenty-three-knot speed, sacrificing one gun to reduce the firepower lost when a turret was disabled.