Alaska and the British large-cruiser alternative

Which completed Second World War 11- or 12-inch ship was best, and did the Royal Navy have an Alaska equivalent in mind?

Alaska is the strongest choice, while a British counterpart would more likely have been a 9.2-inch large cruiser than a 12-inch Alaska clone.

Alaska is the strongest practical example of its particular large-cruiser category. National design traditions still matter: a navy building outward from an 8-inch heavy-cruiser lineage may choose 12-inch guns, while Britain could extend its 6-inch cruiser lineage through a 9.2-inch design. The result is a different route to a powerful cruiser rather than a simple British copy of Alaska.