The destroyer Leader is designed to match the speed of the merchant fleet until a danger arises. Then, the destroyer picks up speed and chases off the target, or destroys it. As far as a jack of all trades, that is the DDA. It is a bit faster because it uses a more powerful engine, and more of them. It has sufficient armament to be considered a light cruiser, but also has the necessary speed and anti-ship weapons to be considered a destroyer.
@exosuit

@Jim1the1Squid okay but how does placing more arnaments make the ship go faster. Isn't it the other way around?
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About it being at the middle of a light cruiser and destroyer, why don't you just make for example a fleet of both actual cruisers and destroyers, than to have a jack of all trades?
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About destroyer leader, i believe it's better to just use a regular destroyer vessel since merchant vessels don't sail at 32-38 knots. When dealing with submarines, a regular destroyer vessel should do the job perfectly fine because most destroyers have depth charge launchers. Or even better, a dedicated anti submarine fleet.

The Destroyer Leader is specifically designed to have high speeds, around 32-38 knots while having an effective armament and still somewhat protected by its armor. These types of destroyers are the ones you'll find leading merchant convoys. They're designed for chasing submarines, or anything that tries to get close to the convoy, I.E. a submarine wolf pack.

The armored destroyer is a slightly different version of a light cruiser, so to speak. It is slightly smaller than your average CL, but only by a fraction. Light cruisers range from 450-650 feet, whilst armored destroyers range within 300-500 feet. Light cruisers are designed for speeds if about 28-32 knots. DDA's are designed specifically for 30-35 knots. Most ships like the CL have a tactical diameter of around a half mile or even a full mile. The DDA has one that is around a quarter mile. Light cruisers' armament is usually a main battery, sometimes a secondary one, and the AA battery, with maybe a few depth charge launchers placed here and there. Armored Destroyers have their main battery, secondary battery, AA battery, and have both depth charges AND up to 12 torpedo tubes. There is a fine line between Light Cruiser and destroyer, and the Armored Destroyer rides that line.
@exosuit

@Jim1the1Squid and what does Armored Destroyers or Destroyer Leaders do.
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aren't armored destroyers counterintuitive because the ship would lose something that makes Destroyer, a Destroyer.

Well, there are some times when people need to know the type of destroyer on hand for the job. The Navy isn't going to send a WWII DD to a job that's meant for a Modern DDG.
@exosuit

@Jim1the1Squid why are there so many destroyer types
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can't you just call them destroyers lmao

@FreeRangedLemon CL-55 is the lead Cleveland-class light cruiser (USS CLEVELAND (CL-55))

I'm not calling everything destroyers, @exosuit

Or call them Battleships and Frigates and many more instead of calling everything as Destroyers

slurp rlurp spmlurp

K
Question: why did you post this?

thx, m8!
@TheFantasticTyphoon

@TheFantasticTyphoon in case you got confused by the DDH, DD, and others.