Could extra time help the longer 15-inch gun?

The assumed delay gives the gun programme a little more development time. A working 15-inch/45 might reduce the pressure to adopt the shorter 15-inch/42, developed by adapting the earlier 13.5-inch/45 design. Three extra months might help resolve the difficulties, although a substantial change remains doubtful. A parallel larger-calibre programme is associated with the gun first proposed for G3 and is distinguished from Nelson's later 16-inch weapon. The Nelson gun belongs to a later design shaped by conclusions drawn from captured German ships and guns. Those tests are judged insufficient to prove the underlying ideas.