Neptune followed Dreadnought, Bellerophon, and St Vincent after the Royal Navy had accumulated several years of commissioning and operational experience. The sequence reflects a cycle of testing followed by another design. Neptune's superfiring after pair allowed four guns to cover the stern. The offset wing turrets still limited the practical broadside to eight guns and left only two guns firing forward. Mounting the fifth turret on the centerline and repeating the superfiring arrangement forward could have produced a ten-gun broadside.
Chapter · 0:39-3:41
HMS Neptune combines superfiring and wing turrets
Neptune's aft superfiring pair improved stern fire, while the retained wing turrets limited the broadside to eight guns and left only two firing forward.