Keeping the smaller main battery leaves roughly two thousand tons available for the rest of the ship. Standard and super-heavy shells are compared by maximum range, rate of fire, and long-range belt and deck penetration. Additional bulkheads and armor compete with speed, which reaches thirty-two knots after a thirty-three-knot attempt proves too heavy. A first-generation radar is added because no better set is available. Once the design is saved, four ships are ordered at Portsmouth, turning the weight calculations into a new capital-ship class for the campaign fleet.
Chapter · 54:38-1:01:23
Spending saved gun weight on shells, protection, speed, and radar
The design converts roughly two thousand tons released by the gun choice into shells, bulkheads, armor, thirty-two-knot speed, and first-generation radar before four ships are ordered at Portsmouth.