 The Board on Construction favored a ship on which 6 @-@ inch ( 152 mm ) and 8 @-@ inch ( 203 mm ) guns would be replaced by 24 newly designed 7 @-@ inch ( 178 mm ) guns , which were the most powerful guns with shells that could be handled by one person . In addition , the ships would mount twenty @-@ four 3 @-@ inch ( 76 mm ) anti @-@ torpedo boat guns . The main armor would be thinner overall because it would be distributed over the entire length . The Board 's favored design would result in a ship weighing 15 @,@ 560 long tons ( 15 @,@ 810 t ) displacement . 
