British proposed Pre Treaty battleships

[paul.mercer]

Gentlemen,
Just reading about the proposed British battleships and battlecruisers before the Washington Treaty. It would appear that one of the designs for a battleship was to be around 45-50000 (or more) tons carrying nine 18" guns, how would these compare with the Japanese Yamoto/Mushashi in terms of armour and general battle worthiness?
Please excuse me if this has come up before - if it has perhaps you could point me to the thread.

[northcape]

Given their year of design/proposed construction (early 1920s), they would by no means be comparable to the Yamato. The N-3 battleships had a rather low speed (23 knots), and as the faster G-3 battlecruisers, their armour would not match their calibre size in vital areas. Considering that the Nelson/Rodney were based on this 18-inch designs, it is likely that their flaws (weak machinery, considerable blast effects) would also have existed for the N-3/G-3. However, it is interesting to note that one major flaw of the Nelson/Rodney applies to the Yamato also: weak to none armour belt outside the citadel (e.g., bow).