Actually, I think the Tharkad predates both SL BCs, with the Cameron built in response to the Tharkad, and the Black Lion built in response to...well, the Cameron's lack of response.
*taps introduction list* The
Tharkad entered service two years after the
Cameron's introduction in 2688. Given that the
Tharkad was designed in 2685 while the contract on the
Camerons was issued in 2677, if there's a relationship between the two, it's likely to be the other way around if there was much influence. Some statements indicate that it prompted the
Black Lion's introduction in 2691, but given the close proximity of the introduction dates, I imagine the
Black Lion program was actually started after someone realized exactly what a white elephant the Navy was about to receive with the
Cameron.
The close proximity of all three, combined with the
Tharkad and
Black Lion both telling the heavy cruisers there was a new top dog short of the battleships, is probably what actually set off the arms race referred to in TRO3075. One of the products of that arms race was likely the introduction of the
Luxors in 2721 combined with an effort to bulk out the cruiser numbers that produced the massive number of
Sovetskii Soyuzes that began entering service a couple of decades later. (This is all assuming that TRO3057R's dates are correct, something I'm willing to accept for the sake of argument but will not assert as absolute truth.)
