Design work on what became the "Formidable" class began with a meeting of the Board of Admiralty on 3 May 1897, where the general parameters of the new class was discussed. The Board concluded that repeating the would not be a workable solution, since the Imperial Japanese Navy had begun building larger, battleships and the "Canopus" design was too small to carry the new 40-calibre Mk IX guns, which were significantly heavier than the shorter 35-calibre BL 12-inch Mk VIII guns. The design staff determined that it was possible to construct a new ship that incorporated the advances of the "Canopus" class—namely, Krupp armour and improved engines and water-tube boilers—on a larger hull like the earlier s without increasing displacement and keeping the same speed as the "Canopus" class.