Dreadnought's gun and turret tradeoffs

Fisher began with 12-inch guns already available rather than waiting for 13.5- or 14-inch designs to enter quantity production. He wanted six guns able to fire forward and expected roughly half their shots to hit at about 6,000 yards, making pursuit fire central to his concept. Superfiring turrets could have concentrated more guns ahead, but he feared blast effects on the lower turret, extra hull weight, and a longer construction schedule. Wing turrets therefore supplied the forward firepower within a design that could be built immediately. Fisher later regretted rejecting superfiring, but the decision shows how operational theory, uncertain technology, and production time constrained the first ship.