The Washington design expands the first ASW cruiser into a roughly 12,000-ton ship with the speed and torpedoes of a large destroyer. Eight six-inch guns, eight three-inch guns, and two quadruple torpedo launchers give it enough firepower to fight surface screens as well as submarines. Maximum bulkheads, long range, 35-knot speed, and the available armour support survivability and sustained operations. With roughly 120,000 tons of construction capacity free, ten ships fit the programme while an eleventh would exceed the limit by about 6,000 tons.
Chapter · 1:30:39-1:45:26
The Washington class becomes a cruiser-sized super destroyer
A second-generation ASW cruiser combines destroyer-like speed and torpedoes with cruiser displacement, protection, and production scale.