The Royal Navy's 14-inch choice for the King George V class was an urgency tradeoff: order needed battleships without waiting for further treaty maneuvering or a more ambitious gun. A 14-inch hit would still be formidable, even if a larger calibre offered more power. The Illustrious class answered a different prewar expectation that land-based bombers could place heavy attacks over a carrier before the fleet received useful warning. An armoured flight deck therefore prioritized surviving hits rather than assuming fighters would prevent them. Radar later altered that balance, but early wartime sets and procedures were not instantly capable enough to make the original concern irrational.
Notable Point · 2:41:48-2:43:25
Why KGV guns and Illustrious armour were rational prewar compromises
Urgent battleship construction and fear of massed land-based bombing made the KGV armament and Illustrious armoured flight deck defensible choices before radar practice matured.