The US Navy assessed all-forward layouts but judged their weight saving too small relative to the protection compromises. An American rule required a fixed proportion of the waterline to be armoured, limiting vulnerability to hits near the surface. The G3 design left too much waterline outside the protected belt. The later King George V class illustrates Britain's move toward more extensive belt coverage after the concentrated-citadel experiment.
Notable Point · 1:08:43-1:12:00
Waterline protection limited extreme citadel economies
The US Navy's required armoured share of the waterline exposed a weakness in extreme citadel economies, and later British designs moved toward broader belt coverage.