My concept for a "Super Queen Victoria" class

To my mind, a natural expansion of the Queen Victoria class would be to go with 16in guns. Due to the date, the secondary armament probably should be 5.5in guns. The speed could go up to 25 knots, and the result would be comparable to what the Japanese were planning. The greatest challenge was to keep the stability to an acceptable value and keep the recoil issue within bounds. Hull strength could be easily dealt with simply by increasing the displacement further. With the greater length, 25 knots is easily achieved. This is my initial cut at a Springsharp design:

Super Queen Victoria Class, Great Britain Battleship laid down 1915

Displacement:
 41,690 t light; 43,682 t standard; 46,200 t normal; 48,214 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 760.00 ft / 760.00 ft x 108.00 ft x 32.00 ft (normal load)
 231.65 m / 231.65 m x 32.92 m  x 9.75 m

Armament:
      8 - 16.00" / 406 mm guns (4x2 guns), 2,211.00lbs / 1,002.89kg shells, 1915 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, evenly spread, 2 raised mounts - superfiring
      2 - 16.00" / 406 mm guns (1x2 guns), 2,211.00lbs / 1,002.89kg shells, 1915 Model
   Breech loading guns in a turret (on a barbette)
   on side amidships
      16 - 5.50" / 140 mm guns in single mounts, 83.19lbs / 37.73kg shells, 1915 Model
   Quick firing guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on side, evenly spread, 6 raised mounts
      2 - 4.00" / 102 mm guns in single mounts, 32.00lbs / 14.51kg shells, 1915 Model
   Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on side, evenly spread, all raised mounts
 Weight of broadside 23,505 lbs / 10,662 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 80
 4 - 21.0" / 533.4 mm submerged torpedo tubes

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 14.0" / 356 mm 530.00 ft / 161.54 m 16.00 ft / 4.88 m
 Ends: 6.00" / 152 mm 230.00 ft / 70.10 m 16.00 ft / 4.88 m
   Main Belt covers 107 % of normal length

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  2.00" / 51 mm 530.00 ft / 161.54 m 31.00 ft / 9.45 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 14.0" / 356 mm 9.00" / 229 mm  14.0" / 356 mm
 2nd: 14.0" / 356 mm 9.00" / 229 mm  14.0" / 356 mm
 3rd: 4.00" / 102 mm 1.00" / 25 mm  4.00" / 102 mm

   - Armour deck: 4.00" / 102 mm, Conning tower: 14.00" / 356 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Geared drive, 4 shafts, 82,173 shp / 61,301 Kw = 25.00 kts
 Range 5,600nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 4,532 tons

Complement:
 1,575 - 2,048

Cost:
 £6.097 million / $24.389 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 2,734 tons, 5.9 %
 Armour: 16,656 tons, 36.1 %
    - Belts: 5,889 tons, 12.7 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 1,216 tons, 2.6 %
    - Armament: 4,655 tons, 10.1 %
    - Armour Deck: 4,508 tons, 9.8 %
    - Conning Tower: 388 tons, 0.8 %
 Machinery: 3,113 tons, 6.7 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 19,187 tons, 41.5 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 4,510 tons, 9.8 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   66,312 lbs / 30,078 Kg = 32.4 x 16.0 " / 406 mm shells or 10.4 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.05
 Metacentric height 6.2 ft / 1.9 m
 Roll period: 18.2 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 70 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.96
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.41

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.616
 Length to Beam Ratio: 7.04 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 27.57 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 45 %
 Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
 Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): -2.00 degrees
 Stern overhang: -2.00 ft / -0.61 m
 Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
    - Stem:  29.00 ft / 8.84 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 26.00 ft / 7.92 m
    - Mid (67 %):  26.00 ft / 7.92 m (18.00 ft / 5.49 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 18.00 ft / 5.49 m
    - Stern:  18.00 ft / 5.49 m
    - Average freeboard: 23.60 ft / 7.19 m
 Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 83.2 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 175.2 %
 Waterplane Area: 60,913 Square feet or 5,659 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 103 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 228 lbs/sq ft or 1,112 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.97
  - Longitudinal: 1.37
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is excellent
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
 Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform
 Good seaboat, rides out heavy weather easily