A six-gun cruiser could have been designed around its requirement. York and Exeter instead reached six guns by removing part of a larger ship. The Nelson class provided a British example of concentrating machinery, armour, and armament under a displacement limit. Two triple turrets or another forward concentration might have retained six guns while saving weight, although every arrangement carried trade-offs. The two completed ships differed markedly, and better Type B studies remained unbuilt despite the design knowledge already available.
Notable Point · 1:38-4:35
Efficient layouts existed beyond cutting down a County
Nelson-style concentration and other all-forward gun arrangements show that British designers had more efficient alternatives available.