Editing Nelson-class battleship (section)

===Armament===
[[File:HMS Nelson during gunnery trials.jpg|thumb|left|''Nelson'' fires a salvo during gunnery trials in 1942]]
These ships were fitted with the [[HACS]] AA fire control system and the [[Admiralty Fire Control Table]] Mk I for surface fire control of the main armament.

Their main armament of nine {{convert|16|in|mm|0|adj=on}} guns were mounted in triple turrets, the only RN battleships constructed in this manner. The ''[[Lion-class battleship|Lion]]''-class battleships, which were laid down in 1939 but cancelled in 1942, would have also carried nine {{convert|16|in|mm|0|adj=on}} guns in triple turrets. The ''Nelson's'' innovation was an all-forward main armament orientation, in order to maximize the thickness of armor available for a given weight by [[All or nothing (armor)|making the citadel as short as possible]], and this was subsequently copied by the French in the [[Dunkerque-class battleship|''Dunkerque''-class]] and [[Richelieu-class battleship|''Richelieu''-class]] of battleships.<ref name="ReferenceF">''French Battleships 1922–1956'', John Jordan & Robert Dumas, Seaforth Publishing, {{ISBN|978 1 84832 034 5}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=March 2023}} 

The [[BL 16-inch Mk I naval gun]]s themselves deviated from standard British designs. Where previous RN weapons fired heavy shells at a moderate velocity, the ''Nelson''{{'}}s weapons followed the German practice of a lighter shell at a higher velocity. This change in Director of Naval Ordnance policy was due to British testing of surrendered German equipment after World War I, although much later, subsequent testing proved contradictory. Two different rifling rates were tried, and for some time there was a mixture of barrel types in different turrets, even sometimes within the same turret. The guns suffered considerable barrel wear and had a fairly large dispersion pattern, due mainly to the different riflings that each barrel had as they were refurbished over their lifespan. To compensate for barrel wear, muzzle velocities were reduced and a heavier (longer) shell was tried to offset this; but the cost of producing new shells, modifying shell handling and storage equipment came at a time when RN funding had been heavily reduced. The need to reduce displacement led to the use of triple mount turrets, which had early problems with the ammunition handling and loading machinery. The heavier weight of the triple in comparison to a twin turret meant increased stresses on the roller bearings when training the turrets. This was solved by the incorporation of spring-loaded vertical as well as conventional horizontal roller bearings. The triple mount turret proved itself when, in October 1929, a turret crew with two years' experience loaded and fired 33 consecutive rounds without mishap.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The incorporation of many safety features, achieved with lighter materials, meant that the complex and relatively fragile equipment had to be serviced regularly over the ships' lifetime. Consequently the BL 16-inch Mk I were not generally considered by the RN to be as successful as the previous [[BL 15 inch /42 naval gun|BL 15&nbsp;inch Mark I]]; the [[BL 14-inch Mk VII naval gun|BL 14-inch Mark VII]], fitted to the subsequent [[King George V-class battleship (1939)|''King George V'']]-class battleships, returned to a heavier (relatively) shell and lower velocity, but its performance was compromised by an over-complex quadruple-gun mounting that proved to have reliability defects in combat. 

Firing trials revealed that the blast of 'A' and 'B' turrets on forward bearings caused damage to many weather-deck fittings and conditions on the mess-decks became very uncomfortable. There was a longstanding rumour that the ships could not fire a full broadside without risk of structural damage.[3]{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}  This was disproved during the action against the German battleship ''Bismarck'', where ''Rodney'' fired upwards of 40 broadsides (380 shells) without major structural damage except to deck planking and upper deck fittings,[11]{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}  although damage to sickbay fittings, partition bulkheads, toilet bowls and plumbing in the forecastle was extensive. Virtually every light bulb in the forward section was shattered also.[9]{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}} When 'X' turret was fired 30 degrees abaft the beam and elevation of 40 degrees, considerable damage occurred to the two vertically stacked rows of bridge windows.<ref>Raven & Roberts, p. 118</ref> As a result, the guns of "X" turret were usually prohibited from firing abaft of the beam at high elevations during peacetime practice firing. Fitting [[tempered glass]] in the bridge windows was tried, but gun blast still shattered some of them and filled the bridge with flying debris. The design of the Captain's bridge was altered on ''Nelson'' circa 1930–33 to reduce the window area and enclose the upper portion of the previous two rows of glass. A great deal of effort was expended in correcting this problem, and fitting of protective ledges below the new smaller windows proved successful. A new enclosed Admiral's bridge with its requisite reduced windows was built on top of the Captain's bridge and the forward signalling lamps were moved up one level and towards the aft of the bridge. The Admiral's bridge on ''Rodney'' remained stepped back somewhat from the forward edge of the tower, but the Captain's bridge had the same reduced area of glass that ''Nelson'' now had, with larger ledges.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Blast was also a problem elsewhere; D.K. Brown tells of a test firing that was suspended when DNC observer H.S. Pengelly, who was beneath the foredeck, reported a bright red flash after firing all guns in "A" turret. This was later discovered to be caused by concussion of the observers' eyeballs.<ref name="referenceD"/>{{Page needed|date=March 2023}}

In the final phase of the action against ''Bismarck'', ''Rodney'' fired a pair of 24.5-inch torpedoes from her port-side tube and claimed one hit.<ref>''Reports of Proceedings 1921–1964'', G.G.O. Gatacre, Nautical Press & Publications, Sydney, 1982, {{ISBN|0 949756 02 4}}, pg.140</ref><ref>''On His Majesty's Service, 1940-41'', Joseph H. Wellings, http://www.ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/D/D7/1002wellings_onhismajestysservice.pdf</ref><ref>Ballantyne, p. 142</ref><ref>''Killing the Bismarck'', Iain Ballantyne, Pen & Sword Books, Yorkshire, {{ISBN|978 1 84415 983 3}}, pp. 258–260.</ref> According to [[Ludovic Kennedy]], "if true, [this is] the only instance in history of one battleship torpedoing another".<ref>''Pursuit: The Sinking of the Bismarck'', Ludovic Kennedy, William Collins, {{ISBN|0 00 211739 8}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=March 2023}}  Earlier in this same action the starboard side tube had its sluice door jammed as the result of a near miss from one of ''Bismarck''{{'}}s early salvos. On 27 September 1941, ''Nelson''{{'}}s port torpedo station almost proved to be a liability when an Italian air-launched 18-inch torpedo holed the compartment behind the torpedo body room, allowing 3,750 tons of water to enter the ship. Following this, ''Nelson''{{'}}s torpedo tubes may have been removed<ref>{{cite book | page=14 | year= 1980 | title = Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946 | publisher = Mayflower Books Inc. | location = New York City | isbn =0-8317-0303-2| edition= First American }}</ref> although another source suggests the torpedo tubes were retained in both ships into 1945.<ref>Burt, p. 377</ref>