The board adopted the 12-gun version, along with a request to increase the belt to . The thicker armour increased displacement to . The board requested that White prepare drawings for this new design on 19 June. A model was created by 17 August, which allowed the design staff to refine the hull shape. The staff cut away the deadwood forward and aft, which made the vessels more handy. Due to their similarity, some like historian Tony Gibbons consider the five s to be part of the "Formidable" class, though most historians view them as a distinct class. The five "London"-class ships differed from the "Formidable"s in their protection layout, which abandoned the forward armoured bulkhead in favour of an armoured belt that extended all the way to the stem. Regardless, the "Formidable" design provided the basis for the five "London"s that were ordered under the 1898 programme.