Project 21 places nine 16-inch guns in a Nelson-like all-forward arrangement on a claimed 35,000-ton hull. The paper design also promises 30 knots, heavy secondary armament, and useful protection. Those claims cannot all fit within the stated displacement. Reducing speed to about 26 knots lowers machinery demand and allows a shorter hull. The resulting ship is a plausible treaty battleship even though it falls short of the advertised design.
Chapter · 39:55-43:19
Project 21 becomes a slower Soviet Nelson
A plausible treaty battleship uses Project 21's all-forward layout but trades its claimed 30 knots for armor and realistic displacement.