Q&A · 3:12:09-3:13:36

What follows if the N3 and G3 designs are built?

Building the N3 and G3 designs removes the historical baseline for the 1939 King George V class and points toward larger triple-turret battleships.

Question

What might a late-1930s British battleship look like if the N3 and G3 designs had been built?

Short answer

The historical King George V baseline disappears; after several intervening classes, a larger four-triple-turret battleship is more plausible than an immediate move to quadruple heavy-gun mountings.

Notes

A late-1930s successor depends on whether naval treaties still follow the N3 and G3 programme. A treaty limit might reach about 60,000 tons, while continued construction without a treaty could produce another four or five classes before 1939. That leaves no firm basis for reconstructing the historical King George V class in this altered fleet. Expanded dockyards and experience with triple turrets make four triple mountings, two forward and two aft, a plausible layout. Four quadruple 16.5-inch or 18-inch mountings would add complexity and demand much greater infrastructure.