Neptune emerged from the wartime choice among small, medium, and large light cruisers. Its starting point was the hull form of the earlier Courageous-class large light cruisers, with a much broader cruiser role in place of 15-inch guns. The Royal Navy already had production lines for the Arethusa, Dido and Bellona families, the Towns, stripped-down Crown Colonies, and Tribal-class destroyers. Wartime pressure favoured ships already under construction and made it easier to adjust a destroyer line than introduce a wholly new large cruiser. Neptune therefore combined an adaptable long-term concept with a difficult wartime production case.
Chapter · 12:12-16:16
Wartime cruiser lines and Neptune's design ancestry
The Neptune design grew from a wartime Royal Navy choice among light, medium, and large light cruisers, drawing its hull starting point from the earlier Courageous class.