Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:53:31-1:53:58

The Tribal design combined cruiser layout with a destroyer hull

The class emerged from cruiser studies but combined that internal and weapons layout with an enlarged destroyer hull and destroyer-calibre guns.

Cruiser DesignDestroyer DesignNaval ArchitectureTribal Class Destroyers (1936)
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Question

Were the Tribals enlarged destroyers or scaled-down cruisers?

Short answer

They were an enlarged destroyer hull carrying destroyer weapons in a layout influenced by cruiser studies.

Notes

The Tribals do not fit a simple choice between enlarged destroyers and reduced cruisers. Their design ancestry included a cruiser study, and their arrangement borrowed from cruiser practice. The hull was nevertheless an enlarged destroyer form and the weapons remained destroyer calibre. This combination provided more command space and sustained gun power without turning the class into a light cruiser in either role or cost.