However, one member of the Board, Admiral Joseph Reeves—who had previously been one of the principal developers of the United States' aircraft carrier strategy—disliked "XVI-C" because he believed that it was not fast enough to work with the fast carriers, and it was not powerful enough to justify its cost. Instead, he advocated a development of the previously rejected "XVI", adding additional underwater protection and patches of armor within the ship to make the magazines immune to above- and below-water shell hits from and beyond. The immune zone's outer limit was increased from to . After further revisions, Reeves went to Standley, the Chief of Naval Operations, who approved "XVI" in its newly modified form over the hopes of the General Board, who still thought that "XVI-C" should be built. Standley's only addition to the characteristics was provision for a switch from quadruple 14-inch to triple turrets if the "escalator clause" in the Second London Naval Treaty was invoked.