You couldn't build a balanced cruiser within the 10,000 ton limit

Norman Friedman's reflection of considered opinion up until WWII was that you couldn't really build an 8-in gun cruiser that would be a balanced design within a standard displacement of 10,000 tons. The Japanese approach was to try to build 10,000 ton ships but do whatever was needed to build a successful ship. That mean that their ships exceeded 10,000 tons by a good amount. That was true for the Italians, as well. I have written previously about the Trento and Trieste. The Americans, who wanted the treaty regime to "work" tried hard to stay within the 10,000 ton limit. The result was that they produced ships that were seriously compromised. Some of their best ships were "taken apart" at Savo Island. Those were ships that they sorely needed, as well, such as the Astoria, Quincy, and Vincennes. Of the 18 pre-war heavy cruisers, they lost the Chicago, Houston, Northampton, Indianapolis, Astoria, Quincy, and Vincennes. The Indianapolis had almost survived the war, before being torpedoed.