Cape Matapan visual link and battleship deterrence

At Cape Matapan, Admiral Cunningham needed a visual relay between fast cruisers and his slower capital ships and aircraft carrier while keeping his position off the radio. Two Tribal-class destroyers went forward because they were judged the ships most capable of surviving an interception. In a separate later episode, a Tribal confronted an Italian battleship after spending its torpedoes and deterred it by pretending to launch another torpedo attack. The outcome depended on aggressive handling and what the larger ship believed the destroyer could still do.