Comments by "" (@RedXlV) on "The Drydock - Episode 198" video.

With regard to if the US Navy somehow had future knowledge of the Washington Naval Treaty and wanted to game things so they'd have battlecruisers fast enough escort the carriers...there was a variant Lexington design at 35,300 tons (ie just barely above what would be the treaty limit) that still had all four 16" twin turrets and a speed of 30 knots. The problem with this lighter design was that it had only 5" belt armor (and not angled like the final design's 7" belt). The Lexingtons would've already been deathtraps if they ever found themselves taking fire from capital ships, but this version would've been very vulnerable even to the 8" guns of Japanese cruisers.
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While the Nelsons' 16" guns weren't as good as anybody else's on account of the lightweight AP shells (a heavier shell was designed but never budgeted for), they're still 16" guns. Their range and penetration, to say nothing of the amount of explosive they deliver, were definitely superior to any 14" gun. That said, given the accuracy and barrel life problems of the Nelsons' 16"/45, I think they might've been better off with triple 15"/42 (or the proposed 15"/50 that the J3 and F3 battlecruiser designs would've used).
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