Designing a light cruiser for worldwide presence

The concept begins with a strategic problem: American cruiser construction could outstrip the British presence available around the world. The desired ship must be numerous enough for worldwide deployment yet strong enough to signal that the Royal Navy can contest those forces. It develops as a supersized Tribal concept through repeated adjustments to machinery placement, barbettes, belt armor, roll, speed, and stability. The design remains constrained by the difficulty of making a smaller hull both well armed and stable. Its roughly 10,000-ton size is finally compared with about 200,000 tons of spare capacity, tying individual design choices to the number of cruisers the shipbuilding program can actually deliver.