I'm working on a small cruiser design

Given that I have a 5.1in/50 gun design, the next idea was to create a small cruiser design for use as a convoy escort and cruising ship. I want to have 8-5.1in/50, as that has a broadside weight in excess of 500 lbs (568 lbs). I correctly guessed that 29 knots was possible at normal load. That is with a designed power of 40,000 SHP. The challenge is stability. My current compromise is to reduce the range, and raise the metacentric height, slightly, to get the normal displacement down under 3,800 tons. That still gives a metacentric height of 2.014ft at normal load. That is sufficient for such a small ship. The range of stability would still be great enough to be safe. The crusing range at normal load would be 2,780 nm and at deep load would be 7,078 nm. The dimensions are 439ft x 43ft x 13ft with coefficients of Cp=0.61 and Cm=0.88. The secondary battery is 8-3in/50 in twin mounts for AA use. The 5.1in/50 gun is also capable of 45 degrees elevation and AA fire. The ship has a 1in deck and 2in side armor.