The Tribal class and interwar air-defence thinking

The 4.7-inch gun is not presented as an ideal anti-aircraft weapon, and the discussion explicitly acknowledges that better weapons existed. The Tribal class instead shows that the Royal Navy was trying to make its surface ships more capable against aircraft before 1939. Recognizing the weapon's limitations does not require concluding that the institution ignored the problem of air attack. The argument is that few navies had done as much to prepare for the expected interaction between air and sea warfare. This passage tests broad claims about interwar blindness against evidence of purposeful preparation with imperfect weapons.