World War I experience informed every navy, but it could be misapplied when a local lesson was projected onto a wider war. Real doctrine has to work with available ships rather than an ideal paper fleet. A destroyer should therefore be judged against its navy's missions, geography, force structure, and likely opponents rather than against a universal specification table. The first requirement is enough hulls to execute the doctrine at all. Torpedoes, smoke, screening, and close attack then allow well-employed destroyers to shape battles involving ships far larger than themselves.
Chapter · 3:24:23-3:32:46
Judge destroyers by mission fit, not a universal ranking
The final argument rejects a universal 'best destroyer': a good force has enough ships, a doctrine it can execute, and designs matched to its geography and fleet.