What exactly are the benefits of a Furious CA over the Emerald as an AA ship? I've seen
people saying that the Furious is a decent AA escort, but I can't for the life of me
figure out why.

What I can tell is:

Furious:
* T-slots are a lot easier to aim with than R's
* Can mount a real armament as opposed to the Emmy's guns
* One extra crew position
* CA shared exp. as opposed to CL

Emerald:
* Twice the broadside strength
* More binds of ammo
* Smaller target
* Can perform ASW work as well

Given the only real bonus to AA that the Furious has over the Emerald would be the ease of
aiming with T-slots (the other bonuses don't actually affect AA capability), and the Emmy
can be an ASW ship in a pinch, I don't understand the use of the Furious unless you want
to play with the big boys and ninja a battleship to death, in which case AA is no longer
your ship's priority.

~ Ferrard