Comments by "Sar Jim" (@sarjim4381) on "County class - Guide 115" video.

@eplekake3870 There's also more deck space for things like aircraft catapults and antiaircraft guns. American cruisers from the Brooklyns on certainly illustrate that point. Just moving a catapult from amidships to the stern simplifies aircraft handling. A transom stern allows space for a below decks hanger (although US cruisers had constant problems with elevator door leakage in following seas), and isolates volatile av gas from the rest of the ship. It also helps open up sky arcs for the anti aircraft guns.
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With their high freeboard, they must have been very pleasant ships to serve on in heavy weather compared to most cruisers. Two question for those of our RN experts here. What was the reason for the unequal funnels, and why did it have such a pointed stern? My guess is either weight savings or speed, but I have never read the actual reason.
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@eplekake3870 It was built a time of transition from traditional cruiser sterns to transoms. The US Omaha class had the same kind of pointed stern as the County class but the Northampton class had a semi-transom while the Brooklyn class had a full transom, as did all US ships after about 1935. It would seem a transom stern would increase the amount of usable space on a ship, but I suppose some of the designs were just what a shipyard and navy were used to.
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