Nelson's compartmentalization made alternative tradeoffs visible

The counterfactual uses the class's remaining treaty margin and suggests a more uniform belt if extra machinery demanded weight elsewhere. Nelson's compartmentalized internal arrangement makes it comparatively easy to see where a hull extension could be inserted. A G3-style transom stern might recover some hydrodynamic efficiency while reducing the net increase in length. Reversing and raising the third turret could widen forward fire and move high weight nearer the hull's centre. The actual two-ship programme chose armour and survivability over speed and the broadest possible arcs. Each alternative carried linked gains and costs, so none was a cost-free correction to an obvious mistake.