Ordinary destroyers absorb the leader's work

Flexible leaders encouraged further questions about guns, torpedoes and additional duties. Their screening and fleet-defence work increasingly became part of the ordinary destroyer's role. As destroyers grew more capable, specialised leaders needed further improvements to retain a useful advantage over them. In the Tribal, Battle and Daring classes, destroyers effectively provided their own leader capability. By this point, a ship with enough additional capability to lead them would already fall into the cruiser category.