to match the speed of the new US s, expected to make 32 knots. Consequently, a series of designs was prepared of ships with displacements ranging from , the only limitations being the ability to use British dockyards and passage through the Suez Canal. These designs were given letters of the alphabet running backwards from K to G. The related battleship designs under consideration at the same time had design letters from L upwards. The first two design proposals, 'K2' and 'K3', had a general layout similar to Hood, but were armed with either eight or nine 18-inch guns, in four twin or three triple gun turrets, respectively. The numeral in the designation came from the number of guns in each turret. These ships were very large, displacing , could only reach , and could only be docked in a single ex-German floating dock and one dock, Gladstone Dock, in Liverpool. The next proposal, 'J3' saved nearly by reducing the main armament to nine 50-calibre guns and the main deck armour to . This reduction in size allowed the ship to dock anywhere that Hood could dock and to pass through the Suez and Panama Canals. 'I3' took another route in saving weight and concentrated the main armament amidships with 'X' turret placed between the forward superstructure and the funnels. The consequent weight savings were negated by additional hull and machinery weights and the ship displaced only slightly less than 'K3'. It had the advantage, however, that it could be docked in Rosyth and Portsmouth and pass through both canals, once the Suez Canal had been deepened. The primary drawback was that the main armament had a blind spot towards the rear of the ship of not less than 40°. Several variations were evaluated of the 'H3' design with the number of turrets reduced. In 'H3a' both turrets were forward of the superstructure while in 'H3b' one was forward and the other was aft of the forward superstructure. 'H3c' retained the layout of 'H3b', but lowered the turrets by one deck and saved over the of 'H3b'. All three 'H3' designs had a maximum speed of , but the reduced number of main guns was disliked so the 'G3' was proposed with the three triple turrets, armed with guns to save weight. This design was accepted at the end of 1920, but changes were made as the plans were finalized