Broad naval reference books can become unreliable when a reader moves from generic coverage to specialist ships. One example lists the Tribal class as only four ships. Sixteen were in service at the beginning of the war and twelve were lost, so the four-ship figure erases both the class's original scale and its severe attrition. Any class inventory therefore needs a clear date and an accounting of wartime losses.
Notable Point · 27:30-28:53
Why a four-ship Tribal-class listing misleads
A flawed reference-book entry shows how listing four Tribals obscures the class's sixteen-ship wartime strength and twelve losses.