The imagined Duke of York pushes the King George V concept to four quadruple turrets and sixteen rapid-firing 14-inch guns. The simulation retains substantial armour and accepts displacement, endurance and layout compromises to carry the extra weapons. This is the capability Chatfield hoped automatic-gun development could unlock. The same counterfactual suggests that Admiral Henderson would have preferred twelve automatic 16-inch guns, perhaps even 16.5-inch weapons, if the machinery could be scaled. Either design still depends on reliable loading, consistent accuracy, sufficient ammunition and acceptable barrel life. With those supporting systems in place, the volume of long-range fire would make the ship exceptionally dangerous to any Second World War contemporary.
Chapter · 32:34-39:12
The sixteen-gun automatic 14-inch counterfactual
A Duke of York variant tests what the King George V design might have achieved if four automatic quadruple 14-inch turrets had been practical.