The Narvik/Z23-class are part of a general trend within the 'European' navies like those of France, Germany and Italy - though Japan also followed this to an extent. All three of these navies maintained a two-tier structure for their light forces. Small destroyers, also known as torpedo boats, were responsible for coastal defence and escort work, though they would sometimes join the fleet. Larger destroyers (or flotilla leaders) were used for fleet work and scouting. The British and American navies, meanwhile, used medium to large sized destroyers for all tasks. The difference in doctrines is mainly down to the different strategic situations of these navies. The Royal Navy and USN had much higher budgets, meaning they could afford to build enough large destroyers to fill all of their needs. They also had worldwide commitments - by building a homogeneous force, they could be sure that the forces that were present when a threat emerged were capable of meeting that threat. The European navies, meanwhile, had limited strategic interests outside of Europe. They could be sure that their large destroyers would always be with the fleet, where they could be most useful

It was not unusual for the large destroyers used by the European navies to mount large guns, of the calibres commonly used by light cruisers. The French Le Fantasque and Mogador classes mounted 138mm (5.4in) guns. The Italian response to these, the Capitani Romani class, used 135mm guns (5.3in) guns. The Royal Netherlands Navy's two Tromp-class ships were to be armed with 150mm guns (5.9in), though one of the ships was completed as an anti-aircraft ship. The German ships were, in part, a response to these heavily armed ships, especially the French ones. They also had to outmatch the larger British destroyers, such as the Tribal class, which had a heavy gun armament, albeit with lower-calibre guns. Using a heavy gun armament allowed the Z-23 class to outmatch many of these possible opponents. It also gave them a chance against light cruisers, allowing them to act as fleet scouts.