Lexington's 8-inch batteries sit high and to one side, creating topweight and balancing penalties as well as demands for magazines and ammunition handling. The design preference here is to put those guns on a separate escorting cruiser. Washington's rules leave cruiser numbers uncapped, so the proposed alternative depends on obtaining the construction budget. Removing the heavy carrier batteries would free tonnage for the ship's other requirements. Dr. Clarke attributes the historical compromise to congressional and Treasury budget pressure, while strongly preferring additional cruisers to the carrier-mounted guns.
Chapter · 1:02:01-1:05:00
Why Lexington's 8-inch guns waste carrier capacity
Removing Lexington's heavy side-mounted batteries would reduce topweight, ballast, magazines, and crew demands when cruiser construction was still unlimited.