C-class cruisers often escorted convoys alone along the African coast and in the Indian Ocean. Their four-inch AA armament is judged poorly suited to that isolated surface-protection role. Henderson and others are described as having reservations about the conversion, despite its usefulness within the options then available. The same concern applies to adopting the American 5-inch/38: its suitability for the US Navy does not establish that it meets Royal Navy requirements.
Notable Point · 48:53-50:11
Four-inch AA cruisers on solitary convoy duty
The C-class AA conversion is questioned when those cruisers must protect distant convoys against surface attack.