Why the Lion class did not need American 16-inch guns

Did the Royal Navy consider using American 16-inch guns and turrets to speed construction of the Lion class?

No; Lion was paused for strategic and design reasons, while British guns remained available if the need for new battleships became urgent.

The panel rejects the idea that the Royal Navy needed an American gun and turret to accelerate Lion. Britain kept revising the design as new information appeared while wartime needs made additional battleships less urgent. King George V-class ships were entering service, and Vanguard offered a quicker way to sustain capital-ship numbers. Had the strategic requirement changed, British designers could have advanced a Lion variant without importing an American main armament.