 The Naval Ministry solicited new bids on 8 September from 23 shipbuilders , domestic and foreign , but only seven responded , even after the deadline was extended by a month . A number of designs were rejected for not meeting the revised criteria . In the meantime , the Artillery Section of the Main Administration of Shipbuilding had decided that it preferred a four @-@ turret design , and new bids were solicited in May 1912 from the leading contenders from the first round of bidding . The eventual winner was a design by the Admiralty Works in Saint Petersburg , which had the extra turret added to a new hull section inserted into the original three @-@ turret design . 
