Tribal class DDs
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2026 5:39 pm
how many Tribal class DDs ae in this game??
Just read this at work and cant answer my question.
Quite a few Destroyer Captains found fame for the way they handled themselves and their ship in the face of hopeless odds. But to a degree the action that made them famous was forced upon them.
If by “best” you mean Captains who showed consistent skill and “elan” then I can name one each from the three major naval powers of WW2:
Royal Navy: Captain(D) Philip Louis Vian, who made his name in the first half of the war leading his flotilla of Tribal class destroyers. He commanded the last RN action that involved the use of the cutlass. During the search for the Bismarck his 4th Destroyer Flotilla was ordered to leave its convoy and form up with the Home Fleet. When the Bismarck was finally sighted again Admiral John Tovey (CiC Home Fleet) was asked by his staff if, you know, maybe he’d like to break radio silence and give new orders to Vian.
Tovey scoffed at the very notion, curtly telling his staff that “the old buckaneer” will have received the same sighting report and even now is shaping to intercept that German battleship, orders be damned.
Which is exactly what happened.
Vian ended the war as an Admiral and Commander of the British Pacific Fleet.
But my vote still goes to Capt. Harry DeWolf, Canada’s most decorated naval officer, ever. In just about 4 months in 1944, while he was the first C/O of HMCS Haida, the most successful allied surface ship of WW2, he destroyed 14 German ships, including a submarine and three destroyers. Haida was operating as part of the 10th. Destroyer Flotilla, a unit of British and Canadian tribal class destroyers, plus a couple of more or less equally powerful Polish ships. Together they collectively destroyed 34 Naz vessels, of which the Haida got the lion’s share. His nickname was “Hard Over” Harry for his aggressive ship handling techniques and close action tactics. While the Haida was hot several times, never seriously. During all of his actions, he only ever suffered two fatalities form amongst his own crew, and 8 injured - and even that was caused by one of their own shells exploding prematurely when being loaded into a gun. The Haida was both a “happy” and a very efficient ships. His record was unequalled amongst the allied navies. In fact,as far as I am aware, it was the second most successful destroyer of any country ever, second only to a Japanese destroyer.
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John Reynolds
· Jul 28
Yeah, it’s remarkable the impact that the Tribal class made in WW2, considering that the British only built 16 of them, the Canadian’s had 8 (4 built in the UK, and 4 in Canada), and the Aussies built 3.
I’m sure that you didn’t need to be mad to captain a Tribal class destroyer, but apparently that was one of the attributes that the Admiralty was looking for…
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John Dolbec
· Jul 28
I would not have used the word “mad”, but a successful tribal captain certainly should be aggressive to get the full potential out of his ship. The tribals were a very special class, and their potential would be handicapper if the captain did not have what was called the “Nelson” touch; i.e. a willingness to engage the enemy more closely. A tribal would be wasted on a timid commander. However, it should be pointed out that 13 tribals (12 British, and one Canadian) tribals were sunk in action operations against the enemy. They gave more than they received, but still they consistently led the way in engaging in close in fighting with the enemy, as they were designed to do.
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John Reynolds
· Aug 7
It is a little-known fact that in terms of design the Tribals weren’t “scaled-up destroyers” but were actually “diminutive cruisers” - the design was a modification of an unsuccessful proposal put forward for an anti-aircraft cruiser (the winning design become the Dido-class cruisers).
So not quite cruisers, but close enough that the Admiralty would often use them as if they were (think of the Altmark incident, or the bombardment of Tobruk) and therefore the attrition rate was very high.
As for the aggressiveness of their captains: the cruiser HMS Sheffield was shadowing Bismarck during the night of 27th May and her captain was adamant that “Cruisers shadow by day, attack with torpedoes by night”.
Sheffield received a message that Vian’s destroyer flotilla was coming up behind her, and when they arrived Vian’s message was curt: Where is she?
Sheffield gave course and distance and the four Tribals (plus a Polish destroyer) were off like greyhounds.
The night sky was soon ablaze with searchlights, starshell and guns of all sizes blasting away in all directions. Utter and complete mayhem.
The officers onboard Sheffield decided that, nup, they aren’t taking their ship into that….. so Sheffield stayed out of Vian’s way because, well, you live longer that way.
Just read this at work and cant answer my question.
Quite a few Destroyer Captains found fame for the way they handled themselves and their ship in the face of hopeless odds. But to a degree the action that made them famous was forced upon them.
If by “best” you mean Captains who showed consistent skill and “elan” then I can name one each from the three major naval powers of WW2:
Royal Navy: Captain(D) Philip Louis Vian, who made his name in the first half of the war leading his flotilla of Tribal class destroyers. He commanded the last RN action that involved the use of the cutlass. During the search for the Bismarck his 4th Destroyer Flotilla was ordered to leave its convoy and form up with the Home Fleet. When the Bismarck was finally sighted again Admiral John Tovey (CiC Home Fleet) was asked by his staff if, you know, maybe he’d like to break radio silence and give new orders to Vian.
Tovey scoffed at the very notion, curtly telling his staff that “the old buckaneer” will have received the same sighting report and even now is shaping to intercept that German battleship, orders be damned.
Which is exactly what happened.
Vian ended the war as an Admiral and Commander of the British Pacific Fleet.
But my vote still goes to Capt. Harry DeWolf, Canada’s most decorated naval officer, ever. In just about 4 months in 1944, while he was the first C/O of HMCS Haida, the most successful allied surface ship of WW2, he destroyed 14 German ships, including a submarine and three destroyers. Haida was operating as part of the 10th. Destroyer Flotilla, a unit of British and Canadian tribal class destroyers, plus a couple of more or less equally powerful Polish ships. Together they collectively destroyed 34 Naz vessels, of which the Haida got the lion’s share. His nickname was “Hard Over” Harry for his aggressive ship handling techniques and close action tactics. While the Haida was hot several times, never seriously. During all of his actions, he only ever suffered two fatalities form amongst his own crew, and 8 injured - and even that was caused by one of their own shells exploding prematurely when being loaded into a gun. The Haida was both a “happy” and a very efficient ships. His record was unequalled amongst the allied navies. In fact,as far as I am aware, it was the second most successful destroyer of any country ever, second only to a Japanese destroyer.
Profile photo for John Reynolds
John Reynolds
· Jul 28
Yeah, it’s remarkable the impact that the Tribal class made in WW2, considering that the British only built 16 of them, the Canadian’s had 8 (4 built in the UK, and 4 in Canada), and the Aussies built 3.
I’m sure that you didn’t need to be mad to captain a Tribal class destroyer, but apparently that was one of the attributes that the Admiralty was looking for…
Profile photo for John Dolbec
Profile photo for John Dolbec
John Dolbec
· Jul 28
I would not have used the word “mad”, but a successful tribal captain certainly should be aggressive to get the full potential out of his ship. The tribals were a very special class, and their potential would be handicapper if the captain did not have what was called the “Nelson” touch; i.e. a willingness to engage the enemy more closely. A tribal would be wasted on a timid commander. However, it should be pointed out that 13 tribals (12 British, and one Canadian) tribals were sunk in action operations against the enemy. They gave more than they received, but still they consistently led the way in engaging in close in fighting with the enemy, as they were designed to do.
Profile photo for John Reynolds
John Reynolds
· Aug 7
It is a little-known fact that in terms of design the Tribals weren’t “scaled-up destroyers” but were actually “diminutive cruisers” - the design was a modification of an unsuccessful proposal put forward for an anti-aircraft cruiser (the winning design become the Dido-class cruisers).
So not quite cruisers, but close enough that the Admiralty would often use them as if they were (think of the Altmark incident, or the bombardment of Tobruk) and therefore the attrition rate was very high.
As for the aggressiveness of their captains: the cruiser HMS Sheffield was shadowing Bismarck during the night of 27th May and her captain was adamant that “Cruisers shadow by day, attack with torpedoes by night”.
Sheffield received a message that Vian’s destroyer flotilla was coming up behind her, and when they arrived Vian’s message was curt: Where is she?
Sheffield gave course and distance and the four Tribals (plus a Polish destroyer) were off like greyhounds.
The night sky was soon ablaze with searchlights, starshell and guns of all sizes blasting away in all directions. Utter and complete mayhem.
The officers onboard Sheffield decided that, nup, they aren’t taking their ship into that….. so Sheffield stayed out of Vian’s way because, well, you live longer that way.
