battleships were actually built (, , and one coastal defense ship ). These were relatively small and slow ships, each with a single frontal barbette housing 12-inch (305 mm) guns (in case of Gangut, a single gun). The fourth ship (the future ) was planned as an even cheaper and smaller () ship. However, the superiority of the German compelled the Imperial Navy to lift cost and size constraints and build a large battleship with two main gun turrets. The Franco-Russian Works hastily proposed a draft based on the British . The Navy hesitated, and awarded the contract to the private company only after a push from Tsar Alexander III. Navarin, laid down in July 1889 and launched in 1891, set the standard configuration for all Russian pre-dreadnought battleships, but in 1890, when the Navy discussed plans for the fifth battleship, the future was uncertain. The admirals were still discussing whether the Navy should concentrate on large battleships, smaller coastal defence ships or on the ocean-going cruisers. In September 1890 the Naval Technical Committee (MTK) rolled out a proposal for a medium-size (, long) battleship armed with three single 12-inch guns mounted in barbettes. Codenamed Gangut No. 2, it attempted to blend the hull of Alexander II and the armament of Navarin in a tightly budgeted, compromised design. None of the admirals who reviewed the proposal was satisfied with it, and the MTK was overwhelmed with a flurry of contradicting suggestions. The four main guns were to be mounted in two barbettes covered with armoured cupolas. The choice of secondary armament caused another round of debate. The MTK initially proposed a combination of Russian Model 1877 6-inch guns and Armstrong 4.7-inch guns. Admirals Stepan Makarov and Vladimir Verkhovsky advised against the use of weapons of two different sizes (as this caused problems with fire control and direction), and against using the obsolete 1877 guns. The MTK did just the opposite, dropping the modern Armstrong guns in favor of the 1877 model, probably as a result of not wanting to use foreign-built weaponry. In March 1891 the MTK presented a revised proposal that increased displacement to and the main armament to four 12-inch guns that was accepted by Admiral Chikachev. Description The ship was long at the waterline and long overall. She had a beam of and a draught of . She displaced , over more than her designed displacement of