The 1905 Tribal class brought roughly 33-knot performance and useful gun and torpedo armament to a patrol previously dependent on obsolete or improvised craft. Their speed reflected Jackie Fisher's wider fleet reforms: destroyers had to move ahead of a 20- to 21-knot battle line rather than merely keep pace. The class could be configured around five 12-pounders for surface fighting or two four-inch guns with torpedo tubes for heavier targets. Collectively the twelve ships sharply reduced the time needed to reinforce any part of the patrol area.
Chapter · 17:09-23:00
The 1905 Tribal-class destroyers become the reaction force
Twelve fast Tribal-class destroyers gave the Dover Patrol a capable reaction force suited to a faster dreadnought-era fleet.