The Neptune and postwar Minotaur proposals are offered as replacements for a cruiser fleet worn down by hard wartime service. A ten-gun Minotaur is credited with a theoretical rate of 20 rounds per minute per gun, or a preferred 17 rounds, giving it substantial potential for naval gunfire support. Larger magazines would help sustain that fire for longer than Tiger and Blake could manage. The designs also offered better anti-aircraft capability and more volume and displacement for later helicopter and missile conversions. This is a counterfactual argument for their Cold War usefulness, including a hypothetical gunfire-support role at Goose Green. Belfast's better condition is partly attributed to the time she spent out of the war undergoing repairs.
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The postwar Minotaurs' magazines and room for conversion
The unbuilt postwar Minotaurs combine ten automatic 6-inch guns with larger magazines and more room for later helicopter or missile conversions.