The Tribal crews believed that Hood might not have been lost had their destroyers been present, a claim examined cautiously here. Their speed could have kept them with Hood and Prince of Wales, and their training in box tactics made them accustomed to entering a gunfire pattern without creating dangerous crossfire. Several destroyers pressing torpedo attacks might also have encouraged the shadowing County-class cruisers to join the action and forced Bismarck to divide attention. The decisive caveat remains: Hood suffered an exceptionally improbable fatal hit, and no escort could guarantee protection from such bad luck.
Notable Point · 42:24-45:53
Could Tribal destroyers have changed Hood's last battle?
A cautious counterfactual asks whether fast, aggressively handled destroyers might have complicated the Denmark Strait engagement without erasing Hood's extraordinary bad luck.