The proposed reconstruction was much more ambitious than a light refit. C-class cruisers were to receive 4-inch high-angle guns, while each D-class cruiser would carry four twin 4.5-inch mountings. The planned upper-deck mounting remained in development and did not reach effective service until after the war. A between-deck mounting might have offered an earlier route, though this remained a possibility rather than a settled design. British design work gave Delhi a starting point for her 1941 American conversion using Mark 37 fire control and 5-inch/38 guns. Modern fire control and dual-purpose weapons could still make an old cruiser hull useful.
Chapter · 12:03-14:00
The unrealised anti-aircraft cruiser refit
Interwar plans called for four twin 4.5-inch mounts on each D-class cruiser, an ambitious anti-aircraft conversion that weapons development could not deliver before the war.