Would nine 6-inch guns make a heavy cruiser?

Would three triple 6-inch turrets be preferable to the proposed cruiser battery?

Nine 6-inch guns might be better, but a cruiser with them would not be a heavy cruiser because that category uses 8-inch guns.

Three triple 6-inch turrets could be the better practical choice for the period. A ship armed that way would not qualify as a heavy cruiser, however, because the category was defined by 8-inch armament. The answer separates fighting usefulness from the legal and institutional labels applied to treaty cruisers. Changing the battery can alter both a ship's capabilities and its formal classification.