Tribals, Battles and Darings

Subtitled the ‘genesis of the modern destroyer’, the author, who studied for his PhD under Andrew Lambert (who has written the Foreword), brilliantly traces the evolution of the modern destroyer through the design concepts, technical criteria and wartime experience of 3 key classes – Tribals, Battles and Darings. Conceived in peacetime the Tribals were a “well balanced capable design” thanks to Henderson, the then Controller of the Navy. Very striking looking ships, they soon became the “back pocket cruiser” – able to fulfil the light cruiser role. Commanding a Tribal was said to be like owning a Rolls Royce, and they soon became the ship of choice for both peacetime diplomacy and war roles. Their wartime service in every theatre of the war is well-covered and they proved to be tough, versatile and capable ships. Well-armed with eight 4.7” torpedoes and depth charges, they had the manoeuvrability, firepower and fighting spirit to take the battle to larger ships, as demonstrated at the Battle of Cape Bon in December 1941 and the Second Battle of Sirte in 1942. In 1942, it was clear that a new destroyer class was needed. The Tribals had shown the need for more air defence and the first batch of the Battle Class was ordered in 1942. The Battles were often criticised for having no main armament aft, but the modern 4.5“ turrets were designed to be effective as both surface and anti-air weapons with large firing arcs and the addition of a single 4.5” abaft the funnel in the second batch in 1943 compensated to some extent. With multiple 40mm, these were powerful AA ships which also carried 2 sets of quad torpedo tubes. Too late to play a major role in the war and with the end of the war, the Fleet’s emphasis turned to ASW. Whilst they were successfully employed on peacetime general purpose duties they were never able to demonstrate their design potential. Goodall, Director of Naval Construction, who worked with Henderson continued Henderson’s design theme. The Darings of the late 1940s are seen as true successors to the Tribal concept - cruisers in all but name. Designed for both war and peacetimes duties, their naval diplomacy role reflected their Tribal heritage. With three 4.5” turrets and a comprehensive radar and EW fit, the Darings, run on big ship lines, were more than just destroyers, acting independently and fulfilling many cruiser tasks. All three classes are described as force multipliers and in the concluding chapter, the author brings us right up to date commenting on current naval building plans and suggesting that the Type 31s will be the “inheritors” of the Tribal and Daring tradition of a general purpose ship. With numerous well-captioned photographs and a fascinating and stimulating history that covers every aspect of these ships, this book is a real gem. It is far more than just a book listing technical details of the classes, this is a history of the design rationale and development of 3 ship classes of ships that were powerful and graceful – the ultimate destroyers of their day. A superb read for both the ship enthusiast and the naval historian. Very highly recommended.