The original request calls for nine twin 14-inch turrets on a British or French super-battlecruiser. Poor firing sectors and insufficient funnel space complicate the attempt to combine that battery with speed and protection. The British design settles at fifteen 14-inch guns in five triple turrets. Its sustained fire earns the description of a machine-gun battleship. The test checks which guns can engage and whether the layout gives a flexible fire plan, with secondary-battery range treated as too close for a battlecruiser fighting alone.
Chapter · 4:46:13-5:10:09
A fifteen-gun British machine-gun battlecruiser
An eighteen-gun request settles at fifteen 14-inch guns and demonstrates how rate of fire, stability, and turret arrangement can outweigh the headline total.