Did cruisers need a dedicated casemate deck?

How common was a dedicated casemate deck on cruisers?

Casemates were common, but their arrangement varied with hull space, machinery, and the height at which designers wanted the guns.

Casemate arrangements are described as common, but the answer allows variation in where the guns were placed. Some British designs raised guns a deck and used more open layouts for their expected work. A participant suggests that narrow cruiser hulls and machinery occupying the middle of the ship constrained available space. The discussion also distinguishes traditional hull casemates from protected positions in the superstructure, with disagreement over terminology. Omaha appears as another example of a cruiser retaining casemates.