The proposed 1,850-ton destroyer offered a way around the roughly 4,500-ton light-cruiser designs that Britain could not build in adequate numbers. Any small treaty cruiser still had to fight other cruisers. The Tribal remained under destroyer tonnage and relied on speed, manoeuvrability, torpedoes, and guns. The 1936 Tactical School assigned reconnaissance, fleet and carrier screening, support for torpedo attacks, night shadowing, and added anti-aircraft fire astern of battleships. The class would supplement cruisers and ordinary destroyers across a broad set of fleet duties.
Chapter · 20:24-22:15
How the Tribals were meant to support cruisers
A 1936 tactical summary gives the Tribals a mixed role: cruiser support, reconnaissance, carrier screening, torpedo-attack support, night shadowing, and added anti-aircraft fire.