An earlier Lion programme could change more than the new battleships themselves. An existing triple-turret design would be easier to iterate than the King George V class's troublesome quadruple mountings. A new 16-inch gun programme could also be tested through Nelson and Rodney, whose existing weapons the Royal Navy did not particularly like. Fixes learned from those ships could then reach the Lions before they entered service. An alternative 15-inch programme would offer even more existing ships on which to test improvements.
Notable Point · 1:20:45-1:22:44
Lion gun development could improve Nelson and Rodney
An iterative Lion gun and triple-turret programme might avoid King George V working-up problems while feeding improvements back into Nelson and Rodney.