The turrets were placed on pear-shaped barbettes; the first six ships had this arrangement, but the last two, "Caesar" and "Illustrious", had circular barbettes. The BII mountings in the first six ships allowed all-around loading from the supply of ready ammunition kept in the turret, but the guns had to return to the centerline to bring ammunition up from the magazines, as the ammunition hoists did not rotate with the turret. "Caesar" and "Illustrious", with their circular barbettes, had BIII mountings with rotating hoists, and these allowed all-around loading from the magazines. Both the BII and BIII mounts had a range of elevation from −5 degrees to 13.5 degrees, with the loading angle at maximum elevation. During World War I, four of the "Majestic"s were disarmed, and these guns were used to arm eight s. A further two turrets from "Illustrious" were later emplaced as coastal guns on the Tyne.