Replacing 15-inch/42 guns with 15-inch/50s during refits would retain the same shells while increasing barrel wear. More spare barrels and more frequent relining would therefore be necessary. The proposed fifteen-ship 15-inch fleet would comprise two nine-gun ships, eleven eight-gun ships, and two six-gun ships. A fleet that large would already require substantial barrel stocks, with a suggested reserve of roughly one barrel for every two mounted aboard ships. Standardizing the upgrade across the fleet could make the maintenance burden manageable while giving the guns performance closer to contemporary 16-inch weapons.
Notable Point · 15:11-17:27
A common 15-inch barrel pool could support the longer gun's maintenance
More powerful 15-inch guns would need more frequent relining, but a large standardized fleet could share ammunition and reserve barrels.