Admiral Sir Derek Holland-Martin recalls that a Sea Lord objected to the design's straight stem and pencilled a slight curve directly onto the drawing. The alteration was accepted and gave the class the curved bow that he associated with its powerful, distinctive profile. Australian and Canadian construction then appears in his foreword as evidence that the design had proved effective. The passage gives a compact example of how a small Board-level intervention could shape a warship class's appearance and how that design travelled across Commonwealth navies.
Notable Point · 2:30-2:57
A pencilled bow curve and Commonwealth Tribal construction
Holland-Martin's foreword links a Sea Lord's small change to the Tribals' distinctive bow and points to Australian and Canadian construction as evidence of the design's appeal.