Tillman V pushes scale to an extreme with fifteen 18-inch guns and a speed just over 25 knots, but the video distinguishes spectacle from feasibility. A ship carrying that battery would impose a daunting threat even if faster opponents could choose whether to engage. The more important comparison is Tillman III, whose twelve 16-inch guns and 30-knot speed were closer to a practical future direction. The studies helped keep speed, protection, and firepower together in the same conversation rather than treating a battleship as an inherently slow gun platform.
Chapter · 29:46-36:58
Tillman V and the emerging fast-battleship idea
The final 80,000-ton proposal pairs fifteen 18-inch guns with a 25-knot speed, while the more plausible Tillman III points toward the later fast battleship.