 The Lion @-@ class battlecruisers were designed to be as superior to the new German battlecruisers of the Moltke class as the German ships were to the Invincible class . The increase in speed , armour and gun size forced a 70 % increase in size over the Indefatigable class and made them the largest warships in the world . Their layout was adapted from the design of the first " super @-@ dreadnought " ( or 13 @.@ 5 @-@ inch gunned ) class , the Orion @-@ class battleships of 1910 . The ships were the first battlecruisers to be armed with the new model 13 @.@ 5 @-@ inch gun ( 343 mm ) by Vickers . The design of the Lions remedied some of the shortcomings of the preceding battlecruisers , which suffered from an inability for the en echelon amidships turrets to safely fire across deck , which limited them to a three turret broadside . This was done , however , because the greater size and weight of the new guns rendered beam turrets impracticable . As such , all four turrets in the Lions were arranged on the centreline , although ' Q ' turret was located amidships and was unable to fire directly aft . The Director of Naval Construction , Sir Philip Watts suggested that a fifth turret , superfiring over the rear turret , could be added if the ship was lengthened by three frames , 12 feet ( 4 m ) in total , and that this would add very little cost other than the £ 175 @,@ 000 for the additional turret , but add 25 % more firepower to the ship . This was not approved , however , possibly because of doubts about its feasibility . 
