Peter C. Smith's work is an accessible treatment while objecting to its repeated criticism of the Tribal class. The criticism centres on the Tribals carrying fewer torpedoes than other destroyers. This comparison overlooks the different role for which the class was built. The passage offers a compact lesson in source criticism: a ship should be judged against its design task, not only against a generic destroyer checklist.
Notable Point · 2:36:13-2:36:54
Why torpedo counts can misjudge the Tribal class
A useful destroyer book also demonstrates how comparing ships by one weapon count can obscure the role for which a class was designed.