How destroyer experience reached flag rank

When did destroyer captains begin reaching flag rank, and did it matter?

Several became very senior, and their destroyer-specialist background tended to bring a more aggressive outlook into higher command.

Destroyer officers began reaching very senior rank earlier than the two examples proposed in the question. Officers identified as torpedo or destroyer specialists usually began in destroyers rather than submarines, forming a continuing career stream. Several then carried that experience into high command. Their background mattered because it tended to produce a more aggressive operational temperament than that of some contemporaries, allowing small-ship command culture to influence the wider Navy.