Did the Omaha class actually work?

Were the Omaha-class cruisers merely awkward placeholders for better ships?

No. Their design was an untidy mixture shaped partly by a demanding speed requirement, but the ships worked fairly well.

The Omaha class's casemates and turrets make the design look like an improvised training placeholder. Its many competing ideas might have worked better in a more coherent arrangement. Even so, the ships were functional and performed reasonably well. Their unusual form also reflects the U.S. Navy's technically challenging speed requirement, showing how a demanding performance target can distort an otherwise workable cruiser design.