A scaled-up Orion: machinery, range, armament, and armour

The King George V class was an enlarged and incrementally improved Orion rather than a radically different type. Both classes had five twin 13.5-inch turrets, sixteen 4-inch guns, three 21-inch torpedo tubes, 18 water-tube boilers, and four shafts driven by two turbine sets. Their nominal 21-knot speed was also the same, although that figure should not be treated as exact performance. The later class was about five metres longer and 20 centimetres broader, with a slightly shallower draught and more crew, while the Orion figures suggest roughly 400 nautical miles more cruising range at 10 knots. Protection improved through a continuous 12-inch belt and more consistently thick barbettes. These small changes accumulated without abandoning the earlier design language.