Narvik used the Tribals as fleet scouts and gun-heavy destroyers

The Tribal action at Narvik followed an earlier fight in which an H-class destroyer flotilla had been badly mauled while the Tribals were elsewhere. Many Tribal captains believed the scouting mission should have fallen to their ships and that their presence might have reduced those losses. A Fairey Swordfish scout from HMS Warspite revealed a German destroyer waiting in ambush, allowing the British force to bring guns and torpedoes onto it before the battleship joined in. HMS Cossack and other destroyers then pressed a fierce action against German ships and shore facilities, while HMS Eskimo lost her bow. The destruction of much of Germany's destroyer force made the maritime requirements of Operation Sea Lion still less plausible.