Dido-class cruisers supplied starshell for destroyer flotillas

Were Dido-class cruisers enlarged expressions of the destroyer-leader idea?

In role and philosophy they could act like enlarged destroyer leaders, notably supplying starshell for an attached destroyer flotilla.

Dido-class cruisers could act like destroyer leaders enlarged to cruiser scale, especially in their illumination role with the Tenth Destroyer Flotilla. The cruiser's rapid-firing guns could place starshell over the enemy while the destroyers retained their own magazines and attention for direct fire and torpedo attack. The familiar 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' nickname becomes a mnemonic for the relationship between one illuminating cruiser and its destroyers. The arrangement treated night fighting as a coordinated division of labour rather than a contest between isolated ships.