Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 2:47:24-2:48:56

A fourth barbette lengthens the King George V citadel

Four triple turrets offered twelve guns without a quad, but the extra barbette lengthened the armored citadel and worked against treaty-era weight efficiency.

BattleshipsKing George V Class Battleships (1939)Lion Class BattleshipsNaval ArmourWashington Naval Treaty
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Question

Why did Britain not give the King George V class twelve guns in four triple turrets?

Short answer

Because the fourth barbette lengthened the belt and citadel, sacrificing the weight efficiency demanded by treaty limits.

Notes

Adding a fourth turret means protecting another barbette and a longer section of the ship. The belt and citadel therefore grow, consuming displacement that treaty designers were trying to save. Triple turrets were not inherently unreliable, so the objection was architectural rather than mechanical. Once treaty limits disappeared, the same four-triple logic became more plausible for enlarged Lion-class developments with twelve 16-inch guns.