Jacopo is half right. All premium light cruisers are named after 19th and early 20th century warships. However, none of the PCLs carry much more than the name of prior ships, and do not copy armament, appearance, or even displacement.
In addition, the vessel the PCL Texas is based on could be a second-line battleship built 20 years earlier than the New York class vessel, which was renamed San Marcos in 1911 so the newer vessel could use the name. This older vessel did indeed have a displacement more in line with a WWII light cruiser (6316 tons), and had a main armament of 2 single 12" guns. However, the setup was distinctly different from the in-game ship, and thus the PCL would still only be loosely based on a real vessel.
The actual appearance and specifications of jacopo's USS Texas are close to those of the EBB1 New York, which is obviously of the same class (EBB1s are all WWI-era dreadnoughts).
