How destroyers grew into a cruiser role

The Tribal, Battle, and Daring destroyers provide a case study in the difference between class history and fleet history. An exhaustive class account would require archival research in every country that operated the ships, including Canada and Australia and potentially India and Pakistan. The narrower argument follows the genesis of the modern general-purpose destroyer. These ships increasingly performed cruiser-like tasks without being formally called cruisers. The common thread is a capability the fleet needed, beyond the service history of one hull or class.