Six ships of the class were planned in 1947 but they were ultimately cancelled before construction could begin, owing to the post-war economic difficulties of the United Kingdom and shifting naval priorities.

This design was given the name Minotaur (the previous HMS Minotaur, lead ship of the 1943 9,000 ton class, had been transferred before completion to Canada and renamed HMCS Ontario and the class were named after HMS Swiftsure instead), to distinguish it from the Neptune designs and replaced the latter in the building programme.

[6] The Royal Navy thought that a RN 'cruiser/destroyer', similar to and derived from the US Mitscher-class Destroyer Leaders of about 3,750 tons[b] might be sufficient to meet the limited interim threat perceived from Soviet gun cruisers.

A substantial legacy aircraft carrier programme of Eagle, Ark Royal and the four intermediate Centaur-class carriers was under construction and the immediate cruiser need was provided by the structural reconstruction of two Town-class cruisers (HMS Newcastle and Birmingham) and two Fiji-class (Kenya and Newfoundland )[7] with new Type 274, 275 and 262 fire control.

The Korean War, along with the arrival of the 20,000 ton Soviet Sverdlov design, saw the Naval staff once again put cruiser options before the British Cabinet in 1951.

[15] The DNC considered the 3-inch shell to be the smallest that could accommodate a proximity fuse which made it more ideal for high angle anti-aircraft fire.

The Director Naval Ordnance (DNO) also adopted this calibre in order to achieve commonality with the United States Navy which developing the 3"/70 gun with UK but on a different mount.

Due to cost and the emphasis on aircraft carriers and anti-submarine warfare after the Second World War this plan ultimately never materialized.