What is the impact of a Nelson class with quadruple turrets and higher-pressure boilers?
Short answerIt becomes a much faster twelve-gun battleship that raises the standard for every later naval treaty and design.
NotesThe Nelson class already used small-tube boilers, so the meaningful change is a higher-pressure plant near 600 psi. Combined with three quadruple turrets, the imagined ship carries twelve 16-inch guns and might reach about 28 knots. Such performance would dominate the slower Colorado class while remaining inside a nominal 35,000-ton limit if the designers could manage the weight. Its existence would make later agreement on 14-inch guns unlikely and might force treaty powers to raise the displacement ceiling.