Very true Colin.
Rapid successions of revolutionary designs become rapidly outmoded. After only four years Dreadnought herself was superseded by the Orion Class super-dreadnoughts with their large increase in displacement, 13.5 inch guns, and all centreline mountings.
Super-firing turrets were not possible with Dreadnought’s open sighting hoods, so that had to wait for the development of electrically computed direction / range finding equipment. What has always struck me as odd is the long emphasis on belt armour against close range hits when ranges had increased to the point where incoming shells were plunging from 30 degrees or more.
Battlecruiser advantages of superior speed and gun range were thrown away at Jutland in their eagerness to close the distance, with disastrous results.
When the ships were designed, they were a neat package with everything thought through.
They were planned when the practice was to enagage at 10,000 yds, where the shells would arrive horizontally so the sides had the armour and the decks where protected in case anything entered.
The 9' rangefinders were acceptably accurate to this range. It was a neat package.
But senior officers (Beatty was one of the first) took these ships outside this comfortable envelope out to ranges where the RF were so-so and shells plunged.
It was the 15" gun that brought with it the need for longer-base RF, the Queen Elizabeths brought with them the 12' RF and they fixed one on the 13.5" ships as battle range had shown they needed one.
Re: the probllems of super-firing turrets: I've just read that in the above generation of ships, the gun-layers and trainers heads where actually in the hood looking through the optics. Thus they feared the blast pressure from a super-firing gun hurting him, or disupt the turrets operation if the men are constantly ducking below. The introduction of periscopes in the hoods, with blast excluders at the bottom, and blast bags on the gun openings removed the problems.
The battlecruisers had fought at least 3 battles by the time Director Firing was fitted (Heligoland, Falklands and Dogger Bank)