Tashkent displaced 4000 tons at full load, comparable to a light cruiser. With 13,000 shp, she could reach 43.5 knots, allowing one to reasonably question if such a destroyer really existed. However, obtaining Italian technical expertise proved difficult, and her sisters were all canceled. It should be noted these speeds were achieved while she was stripped of all armament.

Ahaha...

I'm sort of like Shimakaze-chan, aren't I?

In the end, only one was built, and no more destroyer leaders followed due to the outbreak of the German-Soviet War.

The torpedo squadron leaders, that is.

The Imperial Japanese Navy assigned the role of flotilla leader to light cruisers.

* The Tenryuu-class, the so-called "5500 ton-class", and the Agano-class.

Torpedo Squadron Suirangers A pun on torpedo squadron (suirai) and rangers (renjaa), of the superhero variety.

Nagara

Kuma

Tenryuu

Sendai

Agano

Kasumi got to be flagship because an enlargement made room for the flagship staff.

I wasn't involved till the end!

As mentioned previously, these specialized destroyer leaders' roles no longer stood out as a result of a trend toward larger ships as a whole. In the 1950s, the US Navy established a ship type between destroyers and cruisers called "Destroyer Leaders". However, as these were meant to be flagships of only smaller units, they are not quite the same concept as discussed herein. In 1975, ship reclassification resulted in the end of "destroyer leaders" as a type.

Ooyodo has similar facilities!

She was originally meant to be flagship of a submarine division, so perhaps she should be called a "development leader"? The development of the war situation meant Ooyodo could no longer fulfill her intended role, and she was refitted to serve as a possible flagship for the Combined Fleet.

Not like I could help it!

The end!