The three Tiger-class cruisers were initially laid down as Minotaur-class cruisers early on in WW2. However, their construction priority was considered low as British naval warfare at the time centered a lot around anti-submarine warfare - a role which ships of this class weren’t intended to fill. Thus, the ships would only be partially completed by the end of WW2, with their design being acknowledged as outdated.

After WW2, the decision was made to complete the ships’ construction, but to a different design. Work on completing the new Tiger-class light cruiser began in the early 1950s with the ships seeing completion by the end of the decade. The ships were refitted and modernized extensively, however, they remained outdated designs due to rapid advancements in technology and the changing nature of warfare. As a result, the class was soon afterwards converted into helicopter cruisers and went on to serve with the Royal Navy until the late 1970s. Tiger-class light cruisers were the final British 6-inch gun armed cruisers and the world's last large-calibre artillery ships, no one else has built such ships.