3 ▁Naval ▁Program me ▁and ▁the ▁newly ▁appointed ▁Director ▁of ▁Naval ▁Const ruction , ▁Philip ▁W att s ▁designed ▁what ▁naval ▁historian ▁Oscar ▁Park es ▁called : ▁" c ru iser ▁ed itions ▁of ▁the ▁s ". ▁In ▁these , ▁his ▁first ▁design , ▁he ▁perpet u ated ▁the ▁worst ▁feature ▁of ▁the ▁designs ▁by ▁his ▁prede cess or , ▁Sir ▁William ▁White , ▁by ▁placing ▁the ▁secondary ▁arm ament ▁of ▁ ▁guns ▁in ▁em bras ures ▁a ▁deck ▁below ▁the ▁main ▁arm ament ▁which ▁meant ▁that ▁the ▁guns ▁were ▁in oper able ▁in ▁anything ▁more ▁than ▁a ▁dead ▁calm ▁sea . ▁A ▁solution ▁for ▁this ▁problem ▁was ▁offered ▁after ▁construction ▁began ▁when ▁W att s ▁learned ▁that ▁the ▁ships ▁would ▁be ▁l ighter ▁than ▁expected ▁and ▁that ▁weight ▁would ▁be ▁available ▁to ▁replace ▁the ▁six - inch ▁guns ▁with ▁ ▁guns ▁raised ▁to ▁the ▁same ▁deck ▁as ▁the ▁main ▁arm ament . ▁The ▁change ▁would ▁cost ▁a ▁total ▁of ▁£ 3 9 8 , 0 0 0 ▁for ▁the ▁two ▁ships , ▁far ▁too ▁expensive ▁for ▁the ▁Board ▁of ▁Admir alty , ▁so ▁it ▁was ▁rejected ▁on ▁ 3 0 ▁March ▁ 1 9 0 4 . ▁ ▁The ▁Duke ▁of ▁Edinburgh - class ▁ships ▁were ▁designed ▁to ▁dis place ▁, ▁but ▁they ▁proved ▁to ▁be ▁significantly ▁l ighter ▁as ▁built , ▁disp la cing ▁ ▁at ▁normal ▁load ▁and ▁ ▁fully ▁loaded . ▁The ▁ships ▁had ▁an ▁overall ▁length ▁of ▁ ▁and ▁a ▁length ▁between ▁per pend icular s ▁of ▁.