From Arethusa hulls to twelve six-inch guns

The Town class was, in important respects, a scaled-up Arethusa design. The smaller cruisers were successful but lacked the size and firepower needed for the Royal Navy's worldwide requirements. Triple six-inch turrets had been studied since the late 1920s, with mixed double-and-triple arrangements considered for Leander and Arethusa designs before maintenance and readiness concerns intervened. The Town design finally combined four triple mounts, while quadruple turrets were considered but rejected for the Edinburgh group.