Centerline guns in the Anglo-American qualitative race

At 21 knots North Dakota still presented a 10-gun broadside from superfiring centerline turrets, a layout already anticipated by the South Carolina class. That arrangement differed from British wing turrets and Admiral Fisher's insistence that six guns should fire directly ahead. The American design accepted four forward-firing guns but kept the main battery on the centerline, an approach later used in the British Orion and Queen Elizabeth classes. North Dakota met the turbine benchmark while exceeding HMS Dreadnought's broadside firepower. The comparison shows how a qualitative naval race could force each side to reconsider which design criteria delivered fighting value.