Speed, range, armour, and guns in the Leander design

The ordered design combined roughly 60,000 shaft horsepower, 30 knots, and a 5,000-nautical-mile cruising range with eight six-inch guns. The hull was about 150 metres long, and the exact light anti-aircraft fit as ordered remains uncertain. Armour was concentrated around the magazines and machinery, with especially thin deck and turret protection. Altered fittings and additional side protection increased displacement from the nominal 6,400 tons to roughly 7,150 tons. In the animal metaphor used here, that extra weight and firepower moved the ship from a group predator toward a viable solo predator against lesser threats. Trade protection remained its central purpose.