The Royal Navy possessed 9.2-inch barrels and had examined cruisers carrying eight or ten such guns before and during the First World War. A turreted version of the Hawkins concept would have been larger and harder to pass through the political procurement process. D'Eyncourt's 7.5-inch design was therefore a practical progression rather than the maximum cruiser the service could imagine. Because Hawkins later helped define the Washington treaty ceiling, choosing the more ambitious ship might also have changed the diplomatic baseline for interwar cruisers.
Notable Point · 38:43-40:21
The 9.2-inch cruiser that might have raised the treaty ceiling
A turreted 9.2-inch alternative to the Hawkins class shows how procurement caution helped turn an interim cruiser into an international treaty benchmark.