Why the Active-class scouts struggled to lead destroyers

The Active-class scout cruisers offered a conservative alternative to Swift. At about 3,400 tons normal displacement, they continued a family of small scouts with speeds around 25 knots. That speed increasingly left them behind the destroyers they were meant to lead, while battlecruisers outpaced them and battleships became faster. Their difficulty came from an operational requirement that had moved beyond the established design. A ship could remain a solid construction while becoming a poor match for flotilla leadership.