The Counties are treated as large light cruisers in practical lineage, even though treaty categories made eight-inch calibre the defining label for a heavy cruiser. Their value lay in presence: they were the ships available for peacetime pressure and wartime operations. Paper strength and total fleet strength matter less in a battle than what a commander can actually bring into the theatre. Victory requires defeating the force the enemy can concentrate locally, rather than every ship shown in its paper order of battle.
Chapter · 50:55-56:16
The County class's real value: ships available now
The final assessment values the Counties less for ideal specifications than for being the cruisers Britain actually had in the places where war demanded them.