In May 1954, SCB created a class improvement project for the "North Carolina"s which included twenty-four 3-inch/50 guns directed by six Mark 56s. A month later, the SCB chairman voiced his belief that the "North Carolina"s and "South Dakota"s would be excellent additions to task forces—if they could be faster. The Bureau of Ships then considered and discarded designs that would move these ships at , four knots faster than their current attainable speed. In order for a "North Carolina" to obtain 31 knots, would be required. This, in turn, would necessitate the installation of an extremely large power plant, one which would not fit into the ship even if the third turret was removed. If the outer external belt armor were removed, would still be required. However, no matter if the belt was taken off or not, all of the hull form aft would have to be greatly modified to accept larger propellers. The last strike against the project was the high estimated cost of $40 million—which did not include the cost of activating battleships that had been out of commission for ten years.