The next maximum-battleship experiment starts with twenty 18-inch guns and immediately exceeds the weight allowance. The first trial accepts poor stability and appears to lose nearly all its ammunition when one turret is destroyed. The revised design drops to eighteen guns and 24 knots, saving only enough weight to make the arrangement work. In the simulation, those eighteen guns are compared with the firepower of two Yamatos, while deck protection remains important against plunging fire. Flooding, fire, and a turret explosion then prevent the ship from turning that nominal broadside into a clean victory. The exercise shows why gun count cannot compensate for vulnerable ammunition arrangements, weak stability, or battle damage.
Chapter · 51:43-1:09:09
An 18-inch Tillman design meets the stability limit
Mounting twenty, then eighteen, 18-inch guns exposes the displacement, stability, and survivability costs of an extraordinary broadside.