In the late 1920s, there was a dispute among the leaders of the Greek Navy about whether to invest in building more conventional ships or build fewer but stronger ones. In 1929, as Turkey purchased four destroyers from Italy, the first approach prevailed, and Greece ultimately ordered four destroyers to be built with simplified technology, also in Italy. An alternative solution could be the other approach, which envisaged ordering a pair of large ships with 140 mm guns. The most suitable was one of the pre-designs of a fleet cruiser that the British Admiralty was considering at that time. Namely, the E-class cruiser armed with six 140 mm guns. Lambros Katsonis was named after the leader of the national liberation struggle of the Greek people.