Destroyer captains inherited the frigate-captain tradition

Were British destroyers from before the First World War through the post-1945 era captained by Duncan imitators?

Not specifically; their aggressive command culture drew from a wider age-of-sail frigate tradition associated with officers such as Cochrane and Sidney Smith.

Duncan belongs to a similar aggressive tradition, but the comparison with British destroyer captains is broader than imitation of one officer. Cochrane and Sidney Smith provide other examples of the age-of-sail frigate-captain character associated with destroyer command. The answer sees a large proportion of that aggressive temperament emerging again in the destroyer force. Its intensity could also give observers legitimate cause for concern.