Reginald Bacon insisted on sighting hoods as director of naval ordnance, and Archibald Moore continued the requirement after succeeding him. The hoods reflected contemporary gunnery knowledge and the equipment then available. D. K. Brown's criticism of the firing layout is contested on the grounds that the ship already had a ten-gun broadside. Moving the fifth turret farther forward or aft would concentrate other spaces amidships and depart from established British hull arrangements. Such changes also affected torpedo protection. Any proposed improvement still had to fit the infrastructure and budget available to build the ship.
Notable Point · 41:10-43:26
Sighting hoods and the limits of rearranging a ten-gun broadside
Bacon and Moore's sighting-hood requirement and the difficulty of moving the fifth turret explain why improving Orion's layout involved competing demands.