A WW2?? or WW1? question???

Ok my question does invole a ship along with her sisters that did serve in WW2 though my question does have a WW1 heredity to it . The Queen Elizabeth was laid down in October of 1912 the German Bayern was laid down in September,1913 . I've read a few publications that state the bayerns were a response to the QE's but it seems thier laying down dates preclude that from being true. I've read Breyer's "Battleships & Battlecruisers" article on the Bayern and it seems to me that the Germans were noticing other nations going to triple turrets for thier 12" armed BB's (like the Russians, Austria Hungarians and italians)however the Germans weren't very thrilled with triple turrets but it seems didn't like the idea of having 6 twin turrets mounted centerline so they figured it would be best to just keep twin turrets ,4 of them, but mount larger guns to fire heavier shells.
So what are your thoughts? Anyways I hope it's ok posting what is mostly a WW1 question here.

 

I think the German ships weren't specifically a reaction to the Queen Elizabeth class, after all, the two sides had issues which imposed certain limitations and requirements (or at least desirable features) which differed somewhat. (oil fuel versus coal, for example). But it didn't take a crystal ball for German designers to realize that larger guns, whether in twin or triple turrets, were going to be required to stay competitive with the capital ships of other navies. USS Oklahoma, laid down about the same time as the Bayern Class, had 14" guns, some in triple turrets and some in twin turrets.

I may be wrong, but I believe it was the late 1920's or early 1930's before German designers were convinced of the value of triple main battery turrets for their capital ships.

 

IIRC they never really liked the idea of triple turrets, the pocket battleships had triple turrets but it was dictated by the big weight saving priorities those ships had and they always planned to convert the Sharnhorst class to twin 15' mounts so maybe the triple 11' were because that's what was available when they were started, also the Z plan battleships would have had twin turrets. The QE were the first "fast battleships", the Bayerns resemble more the R class in design goals, by the time the Bayerns were laid down all other major navies (US, UK, Japan) had gone beyond the 12' main armaments and 13.5 and 14' ships were being built for export to minor navies.

 

I don't believe there is any evidence the Germans considered 15" guns for S&G during thier design. They attempted to convert Gneisenau, but it required lengthening the ship.

 

Steve,
You post over on Bob Henneman's board to don't you? Just wanted to say I like your posts over there.

 

The info about the S&G (or was it only G) planned rebuild is confused, but most sources agree S&G were "wet" forward even with just the 11' turrets and the addition of the clipper bows did not solve the problem entirely so you are probably right, the original design could not have taken 15' guns.