The Canadian Type 26 destroyer's River designation follows an older national naming tradition. Canadian wartime usage associated major rivers with destroyers and minor rivers with smaller vessels. Tribal and River were the prominent destroyer identities available for reuse. A recent Tribal class, the modern political weight of that word, and the Halifax class's city names made River the expected choice by elimination.
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Type 26 and Canada's River naming tradition
Earlier River, Tribal, and city naming choices explain the expectation that Canada's Type 26 destroyers would use the River name.