Reginald Henderson addressed carrier, cruiser, and destroyer problems while serving as Third Sea Lord. HMS Unicorn illustrates his bureaucratic ingenuity: he described her with a straight face as something other than an aircraft carrier and secured construction. His decisive change here was conceptual, freeing the destroyer from treatment as a large torpedo boat carrying guns. Once broader duties could fit inside the destroyer label, the Tribal class became institutionally possible. The smaller Arethusa class did valuable work, but using cruiser treaty tonnage on it could mean giving up additional Town-class cruisers. Henderson's answer was a destroyer with expanded duties that preserved cruiser tonnage for larger ships.
Chapter · 6:17-8:40
Henderson frees the destroyer from the torpedo-boat model
Henderson's decisive contribution was to make destroyers eligible for duties beyond those of a large torpedo boat, clearing the institutional path to the Tribal class.