Beware that making a good cruiser killer on less than 10 000 tonnes is... extremly hard(not to say impossible). I went with a mini-Deutschland, because I've made one before with pleasing results.
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I was counting on saving weight by being slow
as defending my coast and with the Japanese CAs tied to invasion transports/beaches I don't need to be fast 21-24Kn would be fine.
JSB