Why the Royal Navy retained names such as Cossack and Tartar

Why did the Royal Navy use Tribal-class names such as Cossack and Tartar?

They were traditional naval names that supported goodwill visits and also carried a pointed political message toward the Soviet Union.

Cossack and Tartar were established Royal Navy names rather than attempts to classify the Soviet peoples politically. Retaining them connected the new destroyers with earlier ships and the service's naming tradition. The ships could also visit communities associated with those names as part of goodwill activity. In the interwar political setting, celebrating peoples with an uneasy relationship to Soviet power had the added effect of needling Stalin. A class naming scheme can combine tradition, public diplomacy, and political signaling.