Hood was not simply the next Renown

Was HMS Hood simply the next development of the Renown class?

No; Renown grew from an R-class battleship concept, while Hood came from a more advanced Queen Elizabeth-type battleship study converted into a battlecruiser design.

Two British battlecruiser design paths are separated here. The Renown class began as an attempt to turn an R-class battleship concept into a fast capital ship. Hood instead emerged from work on a more powerful successor to the Queen Elizabeth class that was redirected into a battlecruiser. Treating Hood as a simple enlarged Renown therefore hides the different battleship studies behind the two designs. Ships with the same broad label can descend from distinct design problems.