Hawkins-class geometry worked against an 8-inch refit

Was the proposed 8-inch gun refit for the Hawkins class practical?

No; the ships were designed around single 7.5-inch mounts, while the available 8-inch weapons used twin mountings that did not fit the arrangement.

An 8-inch Hawkins-class refit would have offered useful additional gun power. The practical obstacle was the original arrangement for single 7.5-inch weapons. Available British 8-inch mountings were twins and did not fit that layout cleanly. Existing structure and mounting geometry can defeat an attractive modernization on paper.