Tiger Cubs and the route from armored cruiser to fast battleship

Did the Royal Navy consider a faster traditional armored cruiser before the Hawkins class?

Yes; the 28-knot, 9.2-inch Tiger Cubs were a plausible mass counterpart to increasingly expensive battlecruisers and part of the path toward fast battleships.

As the Lion and Tiger generations became more expensive, using full battlecruisers to supply cruiser numbers grew harder to afford. The Tiger Cub proposal offered 9.2-inch armament on a smaller ship with Tiger's approximately 28-knot speed. A possible group of about six ships illustrates the intended role as a numerous complement to the larger vessel. These were proposed ships, rather than completed members of a historical class. The later comparison of Tiger with Queen Elizabeth connects cruiser speed and battleship fighting power to the emerging fast-battleship concept.