Tribals, Battles & Darings: The Genesis of the Modern Destroyer

by Alexander Clarke

The ships that dominate so much of the history of the Royal Navy in the Second World War are more often than not the carriers or battleships – Ark Royal, Warspite, Hood – and rarely do ships smaller than cruisers move center stage. Apart that is from one class, the Tribal class destroyers, heroes of the Altmark incident, of the battle of Narvik, and countless actions across all theaters of operation. Yet there has been surprisingly little written about these critical ships, still less about their wartime successors, the Battle class, or their postwar incarnations, the Daring class.

This book seeks to rectify this by describing the three classes, each designed under different circumstances along destroyer lines but to general-purpose light cruiser form, from the interwar period through to the 1950s, and the author explains the procurement process for each class in the context of the needs and technology of the times. Taken together these classes represent the genesis of the modern general-purpose destroyer, breaking from the torpedo boat destroyer form into a self-reliant, multi-purpose combatant capable of stepping up to the cruiser’s traditional peacetime patrol missions whilst also fulfilling the picket and fighting duties of the wartime light cruiser or heavy destroyer.

This is the first work to analyze these three classes side by side, to examine their conception, their creation and their operational stories, many heroic, and provide an insight into ship design, operation and culture; and in doing so the book aims to contribute a better understanding of one of the most significant periods in the Royal Navy’s history. In its clear description of the genesis of the modern destroyer, this book will give the reader a clearer picture of its future as well. Historians, professionals and enthusiasts will all enjoy this wide-ranging and detailed study.

176 pages, Paperback

Published January 2, 2024

Reviews

[Simon Mee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tribals, Battles and Darings is a book about the Tribal Class. You might also learn a thing or two about the Battles and Darings. There are solid reasons for this emphasis, but be aware of the favouritism.

Clarke is a clear and strong writer, with justifiable opinions. Thematically the book avoids being overly technical, getting across the key facts of each class while not getting bogged down in discussing the relative throw rates of 4.7 vs 4.5 inch guns. Rather Clarke focuses on the peacetime and wartime services rendered. The diplomatic aspects can be understated in ship procurement, so I appreciated the retellings here, particularly the visual limitations of the Battles (too aggressive looking, apparently).

Clarke also captures the aggressiveness of fleet destroyer actions, including the flow down of that attitude to lesser classes, such as the performance of the O class at Barents Sea under an ex-Tribal captain. The description “dashing” is a cliché in describing how the Tribals operated, but only because the terms is accurate – it is hard to come up with a more appropriate one. It also centres battles in the Mediterranean, the hunting of the Bismarck and Scharnhorst, and D-Day defensive work on vessels that tend to get minor roles in the narrative. All the battles have been covered before in detail, so I agree with Clarke’s emphasis on how the destroyers conducted themselves.

Where editing was needed was putting the different chapters/sections together to ensure flow and avoid repetition. The story of the Nubian is worth retelling, but pieces of it had already been covered off earlier. I also felt short-changed with the service histories of the Darings as well as the Commonwealth ships generally. There is a bit of give and take here, Clarke was likely constrained in various ways not to write a 400 page book, but the repetitions with the Tribals (unintentional or otherwise) could have been better spent on the later.

I am in two minds whether there should have been a comparative element with large destroyers of the other navies. The Axis navies had different strategic demands and fleet compositions (though Germany still appears to have got it wrong by going too large) and the Allied equivalents do not seem to have had as notable careers. I feel like a comparison would have been a “nice to have” rather than absolutely essential.

Because it is a specific topic with plenty of novel information, I am willing to judge it in that manner rather than imposing the WWII rating discount, with the proviso that you should test your interest with general naval histories first.

[Eric Engle · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Tribals, Battles, & Darings" recounts the design, construction, and deployment of a small yet powerful class of destroyers with the punch of a light cruiser in a good sea-keeping package. In an era of renewed great power naval competition its lessons are entirely relevant. Before the backdrop of treaty limitations, actual or potential, this book raises clear paralells to contemporary issues of weapons procurement, national strategy, and deterrence in theory and practice. Dr. Clarke writes clearly and insightfully. Consequently his work is accessible to every interested reader, while providing expert insights directly relevant for strategic, tactical, and budgetary planners. If this were a video game the Tribal class would be OP. Why it is such a powerful perfect design and how this class of ships was well employed is recounted in detail in Dr. Clarke's book.
I highly recommend "Tribals, Battles, & Darings". It has important lessons which we must heed in order to prepare for, and thereby prevent, future wars.