The destroyer models illustrate the value of 4.5-inch dual-purpose guns around World War II. The main battery could engage aircraft and surface targets, which made it useful for a general-purpose ship. In the capital-ship escort layout, the heavy guns occupied a pair of forward mountings, with torpedoes farther aft. The weight of the guns limited how many could be fitted. Numerous 40 mm weapons added anti-aircraft firepower, although they could not provide the same heavy-gun fire.
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Dual-purpose guns make a flexible destroyer
General-purpose destroyers combined 4.5-inch dual-purpose guns with lighter anti-aircraft weapons; a capital-ship escort layout concentrated the heavy guns forward.