Which is the better calibre to use on a dreadnought: 12-inch or 14-inch?

In an age where destroyers and cruisers dominate the oceans, it is often overlooked whether the smaller, faster-reloading 12-inch guns or the larger, more powerful 14-inch guns are the superior main battery for CCNet's steel behemoths.

To first understand the complexity of this dilemma, we must first take a look at well-known examples of either calibre being used on dreadnoughts. A well-known example of a 12-inch armed dreadnought is the Japanese I.J.N. Amagi, built by Melkron, for the Imperial Japanese Navy in early 2023. This dreadnought is renowned for its use in almost every major naval siege that Imperial Japan participated in until a few months ago, when the last of them were either sunk or replaced by various Thracian "shotgun" dreadnoughts or the new dreadnought, I.J.N. Yumahiri, also built by Melkron. A famous example of a dreadnought using 14-inch guns would be the British H.M.S. Victory, commissioned by the United Kingdom in mid 2023 as a direct response to the Amagi. The Victory is notable for a similar role, being the main capital ship of the Royal Navy until it was replaced by newer dreadnoughts such as the Thunderer or the Formidable, both built by Illyt.

Both ships were used to serve as the capital ships for their fleets, but what was the difference between the two?

For starters, the Amagi was built to "brawl," a term in the movecraft community that simply means playing at a very close range to increase the chance of hitting ones opponent and make it harder for them to dodge your salvoes. The fact that she could hold ten guns in five double turrets and had a relatively quick reload time meant that she was excellent at shredding the armour of enemy ships at close range, particularly that of other enemy dreadnoughts.

On the contrary, the Victory was built to fight at mid range to exploit the higher velocity and greater explosive power of her eight 14-inch guns in four double turrets. With these two factors, she could deliver accurate, high-velocity salvoes while keeping a safer distance from her opponents, but at the cost of reload time and fewer guns.

With all of this in mind, which was the superior calibre? The 12-inch gun or the 14-inch gun?

The answer is, as many things tend to be, dependent on the situation. If a dreadnought finds itself in a situation where it will be at closer ranges to enemy ships, the faster-firing and more numerous battery of a dreadnought such as the Amagi would often have a better outcome. In contrast, a dreadnought like Victory, that is able to stay at longer ranges to an opposing force would fare more positively, as its high-velocity shells would have an easier time hitting their target than the relatively slow and short-range shells of a 12-inch gun.

Another often overlooked factor is the dreadnought's ability to fire its guns while damaged. While the 14-inch gun is higher-velocity and deals more damage per-shell, only eight of them are allowed on a dreadnought as opposed to ten 12-inch guns. With 12-inch guns, a dreadnought is able to continue firing for longer periods of time, as there are more guns that must be destroyed to disable a dreadnought. Similarly, the ten 12-inch guns on a dreadnought enables the possibility of a fifth turret, as seen on the Amagi, meaning the firepower is spread out even more, so an entire turret is added to the process of incapacitating a dreadnought. The main issue seen with this is that the ten 12-inch guns on a dreadnought often, but not always, requires more armour to protect, as there are more guns that need it, and that armour must be taken from the hull of the ship or other turrets, whereas with eight 14-inch guns, more armour is often able to be used on the rest of the ship.

All in all, neither the 12-inch or the 14-inch shell is superior to the other on their own and properly deploying your fleet can compliment the unique characteristics of either gun into becoming a formidable challenge for enemy fleets to overcome.