Would an early successful 4.5-inch Tribal mounting lead to Tribal-based war-emergency destroyers, and would their spare capacity go to more torpedoes?
Short answerA simplified Tribal-based program is plausible. Later versions would more likely favor medium anti-aircraft weapons, anti-submarine work, and torpedo reloads.
NotesA successful 4.5-inch dual-purpose mounting from the Tribal program onward could make a simplified Tribal the basis of the war-emergency destroyer program. Emergency production would still require stripping the design down for mass manufacture. Reducing the original eight-gun battery would be more likely to free capacity for medium anti-aircraft weapons and anti-submarine equipment than for a permanently heavier torpedo battery. The proposed arrangement removes Y mounting while retaining X and adapts the stern for anti-submarine work. An early version might have extra torpedo armament, but later versions would probably favor reloads over another launcher as mass torpedo attacks proved less common than anticipated.