Once both sides possessed torpedo-boat destroyers, an attacking flotilla needed ships able to defeat the opposing screen. Navies added gun-heavy scout cruisers, flotilla leaders, and light cruisers, and the Royal Navy eventually produced Tribal-class destroyers with more emphasis on guns than torpedoes. Their task was to kill, disable, or distract enemy destroyers so the massed torpedo force could launch against the battle fleet. Subdivision, armor, rudder improvements, speed, and rapid-firing guns never made torpedoes harmless, but they forced attackers to build a more complex combined formation. Those counters imposed a continual burden because the defender had to defeat every attack, while one lucky torpedo could still inflict serious damage.
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Gun-heavy destroyers cleared the way for torpedo flotillas
Scout cruisers, flotilla leaders, light cruisers, and the Tribal class carried extra gun power to suppress enemy destroyers and let the main torpedo force launch its disruptive strike.