The claim that German destroyers were the war's best rested on their refined machinery and carefully balanced specifications. Their losses in the Norwegian fighting raise the question of what those refinements achieved operationally. Royal Navy Tribal-class destroyers could outmanoeuvre and outgun them in the anti-destroyer role for which the Tribals were designed. The example distinguishes engineering sophistication on paper from combat effectiveness, reliability, crew performance, and tactical fit.
Notable Point · 3:15:24-3:16:36
German destroyer refinement versus Tribal-class combat performance
A design argument contrasts admired German engineering with the ability of Royal Navy Tribal-class destroyers to outrun, outgun, and defeat those ships in combat.