 Four proposed redesigns were submitted to the General Board on 3 June 1918 , along with a letter that requested a formal reconsideration by the Navy that the Lexingtons be armored to protect them only against fire of guns 6 inches ( 150 mm ) and under . The Board , concerned about the delay incorporating any of the redesigns would have on not just the Lexingtons but the 1916 building program in general and the subsequent cost , declined all four designs . The Board also feared that producing heavily armored fast battleships such as Hood would make the U.S. Navy 's Standard type battleships obsolete , just as HMS Dreadnought made the Royal Navy 's pre @-@ dreadnought battleships obsolescent and negated its advantage in numbers over other navies . This did not stop the U.S. Commander in Chief in European waters , Admiral William S. Sims , to argue for the redesigned vessels by pointing out that the Hood had already brought about the very revolution that the Board wished to suppress . Debate continued while the project remained suspended until May 1919 , when the Board decided that the battlecruisers should be built as planned , except for a slightly slower version of Design B from C & R with increased protection for turrets , conning towers , magazines and communications . This amended version , labeled B3 , was the final version of the Lexington battlecruiser design . 
