Why promising naval gun calibres become design dead zones

Which apparently ideal gun calibre would actually be a poor choice for each warship type?

Ten inches for cruisers, 3.5 inches for destroyers, and probably 17 inches for battleships because each falls into an inefficient middle ground.

Intermediate calibres can look like attractive compromises while combining the disadvantages of adjacent gun sizes. A 10-inch cruiser weapon is criticized for cumulative weight and handling penalties beyond the practical balance associated with 9.2 inches. A 3.5-inch destroyer gun risks the larger weapon's slower firing cycle without enough additional effect to justify its weight. The proposed 17-inch battleship example is explicitly a personal prediction: it could approach an 18-inch gun's firing burden without matching its penetration. German use of the nearby 88 mm calibre adds a qualification to the claim that intermediate sizes were absent. Availability and standardization can sustain a weapon even when it is judged a poor fit for the naval role.