All-forward guns versus task-force warfare

The proposed British 18-inch battleship placed its main battery forward and could cover the stern only through restricted firing arcs. Engaging a pursuing target would therefore require a pronounced zigzag to bring the guns to bear. That compromise might be acceptable in the organized divisions and squadrons of a Jutland-style broadside battle line. It fitted less well with the task-force warfare already emerging outside the North Sea during World War I. That more flexible operational world also shaped the postwar doctrine promoted by Jellicoe and other Royal Navy officers.