How a British 9.2-inch design could change treaty cruisers

Could the Royal Navy have adopted a modern 9.2-inch cruiser gun before the treaty era?

Yes. A Hawkins-era alternative with four twin 9.2-inch turrets suggests that the later heavy-cruiser ceiling might instead have become about 15,000 tons and 9.2-inch guns.

A design studied alongside the Hawkins class resembled a miniature Queen Elizabeth with four twin 9.2-inch turrets. Had that ship established the reference point, negotiators might have accepted a heavier and more powerfully armed cruiser standard. The counterfactual shows that treaty categories depended on the ships available when limits were written.