The proposed division places smaller escorts below fleet screening ships and cruisers. Destroyers provide a screen against several kinds of attack, while frigates, corvettes, and sloops have substantial anti-submarine roles. Larger modern frigates increasingly perform the screening role, leaving too few ships in the lower escort tier. A cruiser adds enough firepower to make a stronger opponent hesitate. It need not defeat a battleship alone to succeed: threatening it for long enough can give a carrier group time to withdraw.
Notable Point · 57:26-59:10
Escorts, fleet screens, and a cruiser's delaying role
A division between escort, screening, and cruiser roles explains the missing lower tier of modern fleets and the value of delaying a stronger opponent.