The case for naming Type 31 frigates Leanders

Why might the Royal Navy call the Type 31 frigates the Leander class?

Their planned worldwide deployment matches the long Leander tradition of distant-station and presence service.

The prediction rests on role and historical association rather than appearance alone. Ships named Leander repeatedly served abroad on cruising, trade-protection, and presence missions, matching the worldwide employment then envisaged for Type 31. Other plausible destroyer traditions, such as Battle- or Tribal-class names, carried diplomatic or domestic political difficulties. Leander therefore appeared to offer both a strong service lineage and a comparatively workable public identity for the new frigates.