In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were originally conceived in 1885 by Fernando Villaamil for the Spanish Navy[1][2] as a defense against torpedo boats, and by the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, these "torpedo boat destroyers" (TBDs) were "large, swift, and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other torpedo boats".[3] Although the term "destroyer" had been used interchangeably with "TBD" and "torpedo boat destroyer" by navies since 1892, the term "torpedo boat destroyer" had been generally shortened to simply "destroyer" by nearly all navies by the First World War.[4]
Before World War II, destroyers were light vessels with little endurance for unattended ocean operations;[citation needed] typically, a number of destroyers and a single destroyer tender operated together.[citation needed] After the war, destroyers grew in size. The American Allen M. Sumner-class destroyers had a displacement of 2,200 tons, while the Arleigh Burke class has a displacement of up to 9,600 tons, a difference of nearly 340%. Moreover, the advent of guided missiles allowed destroyers to take on the surface-combatant roles previously filled by battleships and cruisers. This resulted in larger and more powerful guided missile destroyers more capable of independent operation.
At the start of the 21st century, destroyers are the global standard for surface-combatant ships, with only two nations (the United States and Russia) officially operating the heavier cruisers, with no battleships or true battlecruisers remaining.[note 1] Modern guided-missile destroyers are equivalent in tonnage but vastly superior in firepower to cruisers of the World War II era, and are capable of carrying nuclear-tippedcruise missiles. At 510 feet (160m) long, a displacement of 9,200tons, and with an armament of more than 90 missiles,[5] guided-missile destroyers such as the Arleigh Burke class are actually larger and more heavily armed than most previous ships classified as guided-missile cruisers. The Chinese Type 055 destroyer has been described as a cruiser in some US Navy reports due to its size and armament.[6]
The emergence and development of the destroyer was related to the invention of the self-propelled torpedo in the 1860s. A navy now had the potential to destroy a superior enemy battle fleet using steam launches to fire torpedoes. Cheap, fast boats armed with torpedoes called torpedo boats were built and became a threat to large capital ships near enemy coasts. The first seagoing vessel designed to launch the self-propelled Whitehead torpedo was the 33-ton HMSLightning in 1876.[7] She was armed with two drop collars to launch these weapons; these were replaced in 1879 by a single torpedo tube in the bow. By the 1880s, the type had evolved into small ships of 50–100 tons, fast enough to evade enemy picket boats.
At first, the threat of a torpedo-boat attack to a battle fleet was considered to exist only when at anchor, but as faster and longer-range torpedo boats and torpedoes were developed, the threat extended to cruising at sea. In response to this new threat, more heavily gunned picket boats called "catchers" were built, which were used to escort the battle fleet at sea. They needed significant seaworthiness and endurance to operate with the battle fleet, and as they inherently became larger, they became officially designated "torpedo-boat destroyers", and by the First World War were largely known as "destroyers" in English. The antitorpedo boat origin of this type of ship is retained in its name in other languages, including French (contre-torpilleur), Italian (cacciatorpediniere), Portuguese (contratorpedeiro), Czech (torpédoborec), Greek (antitorpiliko, αντιτορπιλικό), Dutch (torpedobootjager) and, up until the Second World War, Polish (kontrtorpedowiec, now obsolete).[8]
Once destroyers became more than just catchers guarding an anchorage, they were recognized to be also ideal to take over the offensive role of torpedo boats themselves, so they were also fitted with torpedo tubes in addition to their antitorpedo-boat guns. At that time, and even into World War I, the only function of destroyers was to protect their own battle fleet from enemy torpedo attacks and to make such attacks on the battleships of the enemy. The task of escorting merchant convoys was still in the future.
An important development came with the construction of HMS Swift in 1884, later redesignated TB 81.[9] This was a large (137 ton) torpedo boat with four 47mm quick-firing guns and three torpedo tubes. At 23.75 knots (43.99km/h; 27.33mph), while still not fast enough to engage enemy torpedo boats reliably, the ship at least had the armament to deal with them.
Another forerunner of the torpedo-boat destroyer (TBD) was the Japanese torpedo boat[10]Kotaka (Falcon), built in 1885.[11] Designed to Japanese specifications and ordered from the Isle of Dogs, London Yarrow shipyard in 1885, she was transported in parts to Japan, where she was assembled and launched in 1887. The 165-foot (50m) long vessel was armed with four 1-pounder (37mm) quick-firing guns and six torpedo tubes, reached 19 knots (35km/h), and at 203tons, was the largest torpedo boat built to date. In her trials in 1889, Kotaka demonstrated that she could exceed the role of coastal defense, and was capable of accompanying larger warships on the high seas. The Yarrow shipyards, builder of the parts for Kotaka, "considered Japan to have effectively invented the destroyer".[12]
The German avisoGreif, launched in 1886, was designed as a "Torpedojäger" (torpedo hunter), intended to screen the fleet against attacks by torpedo boats. The ship was significantly larger than torpedo boats of the period, displacing some 2,266t (2,230 long tons), with an armament of 10.5cm (4.1in) guns and 3.7cm (1.5in)Hotchkiss revolver cannon.[13]
The first vessel designed for the explicit purpose of hunting and destroying torpedo boats was the torpedo gunboat. Essentially very small cruisers, torpedo gunboats were equipped with torpedo tubes and an adequate gun armament, intended for hunting down smaller enemy boats. By the end of the 1890s, torpedo gunboats were made obsolete by their more successful contemporaries, the TBDs, which were much faster.
The first example of this was HMSRattlesnake, designed by Nathaniel Barnaby in 1885, and commissioned in response to the Russian War scare.[14] The gunboat was armed with torpedoes and designed for hunting and destroying smaller torpedo boats. Exactly 200 feet (61m) long and 23 feet (7.0m) in beam, she displaced 550 tons. Built of steel, Rattlesnake was unarmoured with the exception of a 3⁄4-inch protective deck. She was armed with a single 4-inch/25-pounder breech-loading gun, six 3-pounder QF guns and four 14-inch (360mm) torpedo tubes, arranged with two fixed tubes at the bow and a set of torpedo-dropping carriages on either side. Four torpedo reloads were carried.[14]
A number of torpedo gunboat classes followed, including the Grasshopper class, the Sharpshooter class, the Alarm class, and the Dryad class – all built for the Royal Navy during the 1880s and the 1890s. In the 1880s, the Chilean Navy ordered the construction of two Almirante Lynch class torpedo gunboats from the British shipyard Laird Brothers, which specialized in the construction of this type of vessel. The novelty is that one of these Almirante Lynch-class torpedo boats managed to sink the ironclad Blanco Encalada with a self-propelled torpedoes in the Battle of Caldera Bay in 1891, thus surpassing its main function of hunting torpedo boats.
Fernando Villaamil, second officer of the Ministry of the Navy of Spain, designed his own torpedo gunboat to combat the threat from the torpedo boat.[15] He asked several British shipyards to submit proposals capable of fulfilling these specifications. In 1885, the Spanish Navy chose the design submitted by the shipyard of James and George Thomson of Clydebank. Destructor (Destroyer in Spanish) was laid down at the end of the year, launched in 1886, and commissioned in 1887. Some authors considered her as the first destroyer ever built.[16][17]
Spanish warship Destructor in 1890, the first destroyer ever built
She displaced 348 tons, and was the first warship[18] equipped with twin triple-expansion engines generating 3,784ihp (2,822kW), for a maximum speed of 22.6 knots (41.9km/h),[19] which made her one of the faster ships in the world in 1888.[20] She was armed with one 90mm (3.5in) Spanish-designed Hontoriabreech-loading gun,[1] four 57mm (2.2in) (6-pounder) Nordenfelt guns, two 37mm (1.5in) (3-pdr) Hotchkiss cannons and two 15-inch (38cm)Schwartzkopff torpedo tubes.[19] The ship carried three torpedoes per tube.[1] She carried a crew of 60.[19]
In terms of gunnery, speed, and dimensions, the specialised design to chase torpedo boats and her high-seas capabilities, Destructor was an important precursor to the TBD.[21][1]
Development of modern destroyers
HMSHavock, the first modern destroyer, commissioned in 1894
The first classes of ships to bear the formal designation TBD were the Daring class of two ships and Havock class of two ships of the Royal Navy.
These ships all featured a turtleback (i.e. rounded) forecastle that was characteristic of early British TBDs. HMSDaring and HMSDecoy were both built by Thornycroft, displaced 260 tons (287.8 tons full load), and were 185 feet in length. They were armed with one 12-pounder gun and three 6-pounder guns, with one fixed 18-in torpedo tube in the bow plus two more torpedo tubes on a revolving mount abaft the two funnels. Later, the bow torpedo tube was removed and two more 6-pounder guns added, instead. They produced 4,200hp from a pair of Thornycroft water-tube boilers, giving them a top speed of 27 knots, giving the range and speed to travel effectively with a battle fleet. In common with subsequent early Thornycroft boats, they had sloping sterns and double rudders.[23]
The French navy, an extensive user of torpedo boats, built its first TBD in 1899, with the Durandal-classtorpilleur d'escadre. The United States commissioned its first TBD, USSBainbridge, Destroyer No. 1, in 1902, and by 1906, 16 destroyers were in service with the US Navy.[24]
Subsequent improvements
Builders' plans for the British Charger class, built 1894–95
Torpedo boat destroyer designs continued to evolve around the turn of the 20th century in several key ways. The first was the introduction of the steam turbine. The spectacular unauthorized demonstration of the turbine-powered Turbinia at the 1897 Spithead Navy Review, which, significantly, was of torpedo-boat size, prompted the Royal Navy to order a prototype turbine-powered destroyer, HMSViper of 1899. This was the first turbine warship of any kind, and achieved a remarkable 34 knots (63km/h; 39mph) on sea trials. By 1910, the turbine had been widely adopted by all navies for their faster ships.[7]
The second development was the replacement of the torpedo boat-style turtleback foredeck by a raised forecastle for the new River-class destroyers built in 1903, which provided better sea-keeping and more space below deck.
The first warship to use only fuel oil propulsion was the Royal Navy's TBD HMSSpiteful, after experiments in 1904, although the obsolescence of coal as a fuel in British warships was delayed by oil's availability.[25][26] Other navies also adopted oil, for instance the USN with the Paulding class of 1909. In spite of all this variety, destroyers adopted a largely similar pattern. The hull was long and narrow, with a relatively shallow draft. The bow was either raised in a forecastle or covered under a turtleback; underneath this were the crew spaces, extending 1⁄4 to 1⁄3 the way along the hull. Aft of the crew spaces was as much engine space as the technology of the time would allow - several boilers and engines or turbines. Above deck, one or more quick-firing guns were mounted in the bows, in front of the bridge; several more were mounted amidships and astern. Two tube mountings (later on, multiple mountings) were generally found amidships.
Between 1892 and 1914, destroyers became markedly larger; initially 275tons with a length of 165 feet (50m) for the Royal Navy's first Havock class of TBDs,[27] up to the First World War with 300-foot (91m) long destroyers displacing 1,000tons was not unusual. Construction remained focused on putting the biggest possible engines into a small hull, though, resulting in a somewhat flimsy construction. Often, hulls were built of high-tensile steel[7] only 1⁄8in (3.2mm) thick.
By 1910, the steam-driven displacement (that is, not hydroplaning) torpedo boat had become redundant as a separate type. Germany, nevertheless, continued to build such boats until the end of World War I, although these were effectively small coastal destroyers. In fact, Germany never distinguished between the two types, giving them pennant numbers in the same series and never giving names to destroyers. Ultimately, the term "torpedo boat" came to be attached to a quite different vessel – the very fast-hydroplaning, motor-driven motor torpedo boat.
Early use and World War I
Navies originally built TBDrs to protect against torpedo boats, but admirals soon appreciated the flexibility of the fast, multipurpose vessels that resulted. Vice-Admiral Sir Baldwin Walker laid down destroyer duties for the Royal Navy:[28]
Screening the advance of a fleet when hostile torpedo craft are about
Searching a hostile coast along which a fleet might pass
Watching an enemy's port for the purpose of harassing his torpedo craft and preventing their return
Attacking an enemy fleet
Early destroyers were extremely cramped places to live, being "without a doubt magnificent fighting vessels... but unable to stand bad weather".[29] During the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, the commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy TBD Akatsuki[30][31][32] described "being in command of a destroyer for a long period, especially in wartime... is not very good for the health". Stating that he had originally been strong and healthy, he continued, "life on a destroyer in winter, with bad food, no comforts, would sap the powers of the strongest men in the long run. A destroyer is always more uncomfortable than the others, and rain, snow, and sea-water combine to make them damp; in fact, in bad weather, there is not a dry spot where one can rest for a moment."[33]
The Japanese destroyer-commander finished with, "Yesterday, I looked at myself in a mirror for a long time; I was disagreeably surprised to see my face thin, full of wrinkles, and as old as though I were 50. My clothes (uniform) cover nothing but a skeleton, and my bones are full of rheumatism."[33]
In 1898, the US Navy officially classified USSPorter, a 175-foot (53m) long all steel vessel displacing 165 tons, as a torpedo boat, but her commander, LT. John C. Fremont, described her as "...a compact mass of machinery not meant to keep the sea nor to live in... as five-sevenths of the ship are taken up by machinery and fuel, whilst the remaining two-sevenths, fore and aft, are the crew's quarters; officers forward and the men placed aft. And even in those spaces are placed anchor engines, steering engines, steam pipes, etc. rendering them unbearably hot in tropical regions."[34]
Three destroyer divisions attacked the Russian fleet in port, firing a total of 18 torpedoes, but only two Russian battleships, Tsesarevich and Retvizan, and a protected cruiser, Pallada, were seriously damaged due to the proper deployment of torpedo nets. Tsesarevich, the Russian flagship, had her nets deployed, with at least four enemy torpedoes "hung up" in them,[35] and other warships were similarly saved from further damage by their nets.[36]
While capital-ship engagements were scarce in World War I, destroyer units engaged almost continually in raiding and patrol actions. The first shot of the war at sea was fired on 5 August 1914 by HMSLance, one of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, in an engagement with the German auxiliary minelayerKönigin Luise.[37]
Destroyers were involved in the skirmishes that prompted the Battle of Heligoland Bight, and filled a range of roles in the Battle of Gallipoli, acting as troop transports and as fire-support vessels, as well as their fleet-screening role. Over 80 British destroyers and 60 German torpedo boats took part in the Battle of Jutland, which involved pitched small-boat actions between the main fleets, and several foolhardy attacks by unsupported destroyers on capital ships. Jutland also concluded with a messy night action between the German High Seas Fleet and part of the British destroyer screen.
The threat evolved by World War I with the development of the submarine, or U-boat. The submarine had the potential to hide from gunfire and close underwater to fire torpedoes. Early-war destroyers had the speed and armament to intercept submarines before they submerged, either by gunfire or by ramming. Destroyers also had a shallow enough draft that they were difficult to hit with torpedoes.
HMSBadger was the first destroyer to successfully ram a submarine.
The desire to attack submarines under water led to rapid destroyer evolution during the war. They were quickly equipped with strengthened bows for ramming, and depth charges and hydrophones for identifying submarine targets. The first submarine casualty credited to a destroyer was the German U-19, rammed by HMSBadger on 29 October 1914. While U-19 was only damaged, the next month, HMSGarry successfully sank U-18. The first depth-charge sinking was on 4 December 1916, when UC-19[38] was sunk by HMS Llewellyn.
The submarine threat meant that many destroyers spent their time on antisubmarine patrol. Once Germany adopted unrestricted submarine warfare in January 1917, destroyers were called on to escort merchant convoys. US Navy destroyers were among the first American units to be dispatched upon the American entry to the war, and a squadron of Japanese destroyers even joined Allied patrols in the Mediterranean. Patrol duty was far from safe; of the 67 British destroyers lost in the war, collisions accounted for 18, while 12 were wrecked.
At the end of the war, the state-of-the-art was represented by the British W class.
The trend during World War I had been towards larger destroyers with heavier armaments. A number of opportunities to fire at capital ships had been missed during the war, because destroyers had expended all their torpedoes in an initial salvo. The British V and W classes of the late war had sought to address this by mounting six torpedo tubes in two triple mounts, instead of the four or two on earlier models. The V and W classes set the standard of destroyer building well into the 1920s.
Two Romanian destroyers Mărăști and Mărășești, though, had the greatest firepower of all destroyers in the world throughout the first half of the 1920s. This was largely because, between their commissioning in 1920 and 1926, they retained the armament that they had while serving in the Italian Navy as scout cruisers (esploratori). When initially ordered by Romania in 1913, the Romanian specifications envisioned three 120mm guns, a caliber which would eventually be adopted as the standard for future Italian destroyers. Armed with three 152mm and four 76mm guns after being completed as scout cruisers, the two warships were officially re-rated as destroyers by the Romanian Navy. The two Romanian warships were thus the destroyers with the greatest firepower in the world throughout much of the interwar period. As of 1939, when the Second World War started, their artillery, although changed, was still close to cruiser standards, amounting to nine heavy naval guns (five of 120mm and four of 76mm). In addition, they retained their two twin 457mm torpedo tubes and two machine guns, plus the capacity to carry up to 50 mines.[39]
The next major innovation came with the Japanese Fubuki class or "special type", designed in 1923 and delivered in 1928. The design was initially noted for its powerful armament of six 5-inch (127mm) guns and three triple torpedo mounts. The second batch of the class gave the guns high-angle turrets for antiaircraft warfare, and the 24-inch (61cm), oxygen-fueled Long Lance Type 93 torpedo. The later Hatsuharu class of 1931 further improved the torpedo armament by storing its reload torpedoes close at hand in the superstructure, allowing reloading within 15 minutes.
Most other nations replied with similar larger ships. The US Porter class adopted twin 5-inch (127mm) guns, and the subsequent Mahan class and Gridley classes (the latter of 1934) increased the number of torpedo tubes to 12 and 16, respectively.
In the Mediterranean, the Italian Navy's building of very fast light cruisers of the Condottieri class prompted the French to produce exceptional destroyer designs. The French had long been keen on large destroyers, with their Chacal class of 1922 displacing over 2,000tons and carrying 130mm guns; a further three similar classes were produced around 1930. The Le Fantasque class of 1935 carried five 138 millimetres (5.4in) guns and nine torpedo tubes, but could achieve speeds of 45 knots (83km/h), which remains the record speed for a steamship and for any destroyer.[40] The Italians' own destroyers were almost as swift; most Italian designs of the 1930s were rated at over 38 knots (70km/h), while carrying torpedoes and either four or six 120mm guns.
Germany started to build destroyers again during the 1930s as part of Hitler's rearmament program. The Germans were also fond of large destroyers, but while the initial Type 1934 displaced over 3,000tons, their armament was equal to smaller vessels. This changed from the Type 1936 onwards, which mounted heavy 150 millimetres (5.9in) guns. German destroyers also used innovative high-pressure steam machinery; while this should have helped their efficiency, it more often resulted in mechanical problems.
HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes, a British built N-class destroyer, laid down on 22 May 1940 and transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy
Once German and Japanese rearmament became clear, the British and American navies consciously focused on building destroyers that were smaller, but more numerous than those used by other nations. The British built a series of destroyers (the A class to I class), which were about 1,400tons standard displacement, and had four 4.7-inch (119mm) guns and eight torpedo tubes; the American Benson class of 1938 was similar in size, but carried five 5-inch (127mm) guns and ten torpedo tubes. Realizing the need for heavier gun armament, the British built the Tribal class of 1936 (sometimes called Afridi after one of two lead ships). These ships displaced 1,850tons and were armed with eight 4.7-inch (119mm) guns in four twin turrets and four torpedo tubes. These were followed by the J-class and L-class destroyers, with six 4.7-inch (119mm) guns in twin turrets and eight torpedo tubes.
Antisubmarine sensors included sonar (or ASDIC), although training in their use was indifferent. Antisubmarine weapons changed little, and ahead-throwing weapons, a need recognized in World War I, had made no progress.
During the 1920s and 1930s, destroyers were often deployed to areas of diplomatic tension or humanitarian disaster. British and American destroyers were common on the Chinese coast and rivers, even supplying landing parties to protect colonial interests. By World War II, the threat had evolved once again. Submarines were more effective, and aircraft had become important weapons of naval warfare; once again the early-war fleet destroyers were ill-equipped for combating these new targets. They were fitted with new light antiaircraft guns, radar, and forward-launched ASW weapons, in addition to their existing dual-purpose guns, depth charges, and torpedoes. Increasing size allowed improved internal arrangement of propulsion machinery with compartmentation, so ships were less likely to be sunk by a single hit.[7] In most cases torpedo and/or dual-purpose gun armament was reduced to accommodate new anti-air and anti-submarine weapons. By this time the destroyers had become large, multi-purpose vessels, expensive targets in their own right. As a result, casualties on destroyers were among the highest. In the US Navy, particularly in World War II, destroyers became known as tin cans due to their light armor compared to battleships and cruisers.
The need for large numbers of antisubmarine ships led to the introduction of smaller and cheaper specialized antisubmarine warships called corvettes and frigates by the Royal Navy and destroyer escorts by the USN. A similar programme was belatedly started by the Japanese (see Matsu-class destroyer). These ships had the size and displacement of the original TBDs from which the contemporary destroyer had evolved.
Some conventional destroyers completed in the late 1940s and 1950s were built on wartime experience. These vessels were significantly larger than wartime ships and had fully automatic main guns, unit machinery, radar, sonar, and antisubmarine weapons, such as the squid mortar. Examples include the British Daring-class, US Forrest Sherman-class, and the Soviet Kotlin-class destroyers.
Some World War II–vintage ships were modernized for antisubmarine warfare, and to extend their service lives, to avoid having to build (expensive) brand-new ships. Examples include the US FRAM I programme and the British Type 15 frigates converted from fleet destroyers.
The 21st century destroyers tend to display features such as large, slab sides without complicated corners and crevices to keep the radar cross-section small, vertical launch systems to carry a large number of missiles at high readiness to fire, and helicopter flight decks and hangars.
Operators
Countries by destroyer number (countries which operate destroyers in blue, specific colour code shown on image)
French Navy operates two Horizon-class frigates and eight FREMM Multipurpose frigates of the Aquitaine-class variant. The French Navy does not use the term "destroyer" but rather "first-rate frigate" for these ship types, but they are marked with the NATO "D" hull code which places them in the destroyer type, as opposed to "F" for frigate.[44]
Islamic Republic of Iran Navy operates five Moudge-class frigates. These ships are classified as destroyers by Iran, but internationally regarded as light frigates.
Ships of note classed as frigates
Egyptian Navy operates the ENS Tahya Misr. This is one of the Aquitaine-class variants of the FREMM Multipurpose frigates purchased from France, which is classified as a destroyer by France.
German Navy operates three Sachsen-class frigates and four Baden-Württemberg-class frigates. These ships are officially classified as frigates by Germany, but regarded as destroyers internationally due to size and capability.
Royal Moroccan Navy operates the Mohammed VI. This is one of the Aquitaine-class variants of the FREMM Multipurpose frigates purchased from France, which is classified as a destroyer by France.
Royal Netherlands Navy operates four De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates. These ships are classified as frigates by the Netherlands, but regarded as destroyers internationally due to size and capability.[45]
Royal Norwegian Navy operates four Fridtjof Nansen-class frigates. These ships are subclasses of Spain's Alvaro de Bazan-class, and classified as frigates, but are regarded as destroyers due to their size and armament.[46]
Romanian Naval Forces operates Mărășești. This ship was classified as a destroyer from 1990 to 2001, when she was reclassified as a frigate. No official reason was given for this and there was no change in armament or capability, thus remaining in the destroyer type.
Spanish Navy operates five Álvaro de Bazán-class frigates. These ships are officially classified as a frigates by Spain, but due to their size and capabilities are regarded internationally as destroyers. They also served as the basis for Australia's Hobart-class destroyers.
Former operators
Austro-Hungarian Navy lost its entire navy upon the Empire's collapse following World War I.
Baden-Württemberg, an F125-class frigate of the German Navy; currently the biggest frigates worldwide. In size and role they are qualified as destroyers
Brazilian Navy plans to build 7,000-ton destroyers after the delivery of the new frigates, and TKMS presented to the Navy its most modern 7,200-ton MEKO A-400 air defense destroyer, an updated version of the German F-125-class frigates. The similarities between the projects and the high rate of commonality between requirements were also crucial for the consortium's victory.[47]
Royal Canadian Navy is building up to 15 River-class destroyers based on the Royal Navy's Type 26 frigate. They will be more powerful than the Type 26, being fitted with the Aegis Combat System and long range surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles.
German Navy: Six multi-mission F126 frigates which will have destroyer-size and corresponding capabilities (Length: 163 m, displacement: 10,550 tons)[48]
United States Navy, currently has 19 additional Arleigh Burke destroyers planned or under construction. The new ships will be the upgraded "flight III" version.[52] The United States has also started development of its DDG(X) next-generation destroyer project.[53] Construction of the first ship is expected to start in 2028.
Destroyers in Preservation
Many historic destroyers are preserved as museum ships
↑ Although the Russian Kirov class are sometimes classified as battlecruisers due to their displacement, they are described by Russia as large missile cruisers.
Related Research Articles
A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea denial.
A frigate is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied.
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes.
A heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in calibre, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930. Heavy cruisers were generally larger, more heavily-armed and more heavily-armoured than light cruisers while being smaller, faster, and more lightly-armed and armoured than battlecruisers and battleships. Heavy cruisers were assigned a variety of roles ranging from commerce raiding to serving as 'cruiser-killers,' i.e. hunting and destroying similarly-sized ships.
A warship or combatant ship is a ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are typically faster and more maneuverable than merchant ships. Unlike a merchant ship, which carries cargo, a warship typically carries only weapons, ammunition and supplies for its crew.
HMAS Quadrant (G11/D11/F01), named for the navigational instrument, was a Q-class destroyer operated by the Royal Navy as HMS Quadrant (G67/D17) during World War II, and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1945 to 1957. The ship was built during the early 1940s as one of the War Emergency Programme destroyers, and entered service in 1942.
HMS Danae was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy. She was, like the rest of the class, named after a figure of mythology. Danae was built by Devonport Dockyard. She was launched on 31 October 1965 and commissioned on 10 October 1967.
The names of commissioned ships of the United States Navy all start with USS, for United States Ship. Non-commissioned, primarily civilian-crewed vessels of the U.S. Navy under the Military Sealift Command have names that begin with USNS, standing for United States Naval Ship. A letter-based hull classification symbol is used to designate a vessel's type. The names of ships are selected by the Secretary of the Navy. The names are those of states, cities, towns, important persons, important locations, famous battles, fish, and ideals. Usually, different types of ships have names originated from different types of sources.
The Bainbridge-class destroyers were a class of United States Navy Torpedo Boat Destroyers (TBDs) built between 1899 and 1903. The first class so designated, they comprised the first 13 of 16 TBDs authorized by Congress in 1898 following the Spanish–American War. One ship of the class was lost at sea during service in World War I: Chauncey, which collided with the British merchant ship SS Rose in 1917. The balance were decommissioned in 1919 and sold postwar in 1920, eleven to Joseph G. Hitner of Philadelphia, and the Hopkins to the Denton Shore Lumber Company in Tampa, Florida.
HMS Grenville was the second ship of this name to serve with the Royal Navy in the Second World War. Grenville and seven other U-class destroyers were ordered as part of the Emergency Programme. She was launched at Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd., Wallsend-on-Tyne on 12 October 1942 and commissioned on 27 May 1943.
The 3-inch/50-caliber gun in United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fired a projectile 3 inches (76 mm) in diameter, and the barrel was 50 calibers long. Different guns of this caliber were used by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard from 1900 through to 1990 on a variety of combatant and transport ship classes.
At the start of World War II, the Royal Navy operated a range of destroyer classes. Some of these were legacies of World War I, some were designed during the inter-war years and the rest were the result of wartime experience and conditions. British-built and -designed vessels were also supplied to and built by allied navies, primarily the Australian and Canadian navies.
HMS Ursa was a U-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F200.
HMS Zealous was a Z-class destroyer of the Royal Navy built in 1944 by Cammell Laird. She served during the Second World War, participating in operations in the North Sea and off the Norwegian coast, before taking part in some of the Arctic convoys. She spent a further ten years in Royal Navy service after the end of the war before being sold to the Israeli Navy, which operated her as INS Eilat. She saw action during the Suez Crisis in 1956 attacking Egyptian ships, and was still active by the outbreak of the Six-Day War in 1967. She was sunk several months after the conflict by missiles launched from several small Egyptian missile boats; this made her the first vessel to be sunk by a missile boat in wartime. It was an important milestone in naval surface warfare, which aroused considerable interest around the world in the development of small manoeuvrable missile boats.
HMS Falmouth was a Town-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy during the 1910s. She was one of four ships of the Weymouth sub-class. The ship was initially assigned to the Atlantic Fleet upon completion in 1911, but was reduced to reserve in mid-1913. When the First World War began in 1914, Falmouth was transferred to the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron (LCS) of the Grand Fleet and then the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron at the end of the year. The ship participated in most of the early fleet actions, including the Battles of Heligoland Bight, Dogger Bank, and Jutland, but was only seriously engaged in the latter. She was torpedoed and sunk off Flamborough Head, Yorkshire by German submarines during the action of 19 August 1916.
HMS Albrighton was a Type III Hunt-class destroyer built for the British Royal Navy. She entered service in February 1942, first carrying out an attack on German ships in the English Channel then taking part in the Dieppe Raid, rescuing survivors from the sinking destroyer HMS Broke. Albrighton was next assigned to search for and destroy the German auxiliary cruiser Komet, then escorted a convoy to Gibraltar in prevision of the Allied landings in North Africa. Between December 1942 and April 1943, she participated in the sinking of three more Axis ships with the First Destroyer Flotilla. During the Normandy Landings in June 1944, Albrighton served as a headquarters ship, then sank two German trawlers in the weeks after the invasion. After being converted to a destroyer in early 1945, she was damaged in a collision with a Landing Ship, then was assigned to the British Eastern Fleet. However, the war ended before she was deployed and Albrighton went into reserve.
HMS Airedale was a Hunt-class destroyer built for use by the British Royal Navy during the Second World War. She entered service in early 1942 as a convoy escort, being assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet in May. Airedale was sunk while escorting a convoy from Alexandria to Malta on 15 June 1942 by Sturzkampfgeschwader 3.
HMS Limbourne (L57) was a Hunt-class escort destroyer, operated by the Royal Navy. She was sunk in action, off German-occupied Guernsey, on 23 October 1943.
HSwMS Karlskrona was a destroyer of the Royal Swedish Navy that served during the Second World War and in the Cold War. The fourth member of the Göteborg or city class, which was designed as an improvement on the previous Ehrensköld class, Karlskrona was launched on 16 June 1939. The destroyer served in the Coastal Fleet during the war, protecting Swedish neutrality and escorting convoys. After the war, the ship was upgraded between 1950 and 1951 with enhanced fire control and an armament improved with the introduction of the Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft gun. Ten years later, in 1961, Karlskrona was designated a fast anti-submarine frigate and the torpedo tubes were replaced by Squid mortars. The vessel was decommissioned on 1 July 1974 and broken up in 1979.
References
1 2 3 4 Fitzsimmons, Bernard: The Illustrated encyclopedia of 20th century weapons and warfare. Columbia House, 1978, v. 8, page 835
↑ Smith, Charles Edgar: A short history of naval and marine engineering. Babcock & Wilcox, ltd. at the University Press, 1937, page 263
↑ Evans and Peattie, David C. and Mark R. (1997). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887–1941. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN978-0-87021-192-8.
↑ Howe, Christopher (1996). The Origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy: Development and Technology in Asia from 1540 to the Pacific War. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. ISBN978-0-226-35485-9.
↑ Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien: ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart (Band 4)[The German Warships: Biographies: A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present (Vol. 4)] (in German). Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. pp.17–18. ISBN978-3-7822-0382-1.
1 2 Lyon & Winfield. "10". The Sail and Steam Navy List. pp.82–3.
↑ "Under the influence of Fernando Villamil (1845–1898), Spain in 1886 produced the first torpedo boat destroyer." Kern, Robert & Dodge, Meredith: Historical dictionary of modern Spain, 1700–1988. Greenwood Press, 1990, page 361. ISBN0-313-25971-2
↑ Polmar, Norman; Cavas, Christopher (2009). Navy's Most Wanted™: The Top 10 Book of Admirable Admirals, Sleek Submarines, and Other Naval Oddities. Potomac Books. p.44. ISBN978-1597976558.
↑ Cornwell, Edward Lewis (1979). The illustrated history of ships. Crescent Books. p.150. ISBN0517287951.
↑ Illustrated Naval and Military Magazine: A monthly journal devoted to all subjects connected with Her Majesty's land and sea forces, 1888, v 9, page 280
↑ Dahl, E.J. (2001). "Naval innovation: From coal to oil"(PDF). Joint Force Quarterly (Winter 2000–01): 50–6. Archived(PDF) from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
↑ The Königin Luise was abandoned and scuttled by her crew, but the British patrol later passed through the area she had mined and a cruiser was damaged and abandoned.
↑ Kemp, Paul (1997). U-boats Destroyed: German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. Naval Institute Press. ISBN9781557508591.
↑ Brassey's Annual: The Armed Forces Year-book, Praeger Publishers, 1939, p. 276
↑ Jordan, John & Moulin, Jean (2015). French Destroyers: Torpilleurs d'Escadre & Contre-Torpilleurs 1922–1956. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-84832-198-4.
Evans, David C. Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887–1941, Mark R. Peattie. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland ISBN0-87021-192-7
Gardiner, Robert (Editor). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships (1860–1905): Naval Institute Press, 1985.
Gove, Philip Babock (Editor in Chief). Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged. (2002) Merriam-Webster Inc., Publishers, Massachusetts, US.
Grant, R. Captain. Before Port Arthur in a Destroyer; The Personal Diary of a Japanese Naval Officer. London, John Murray; first and second editions published in 1907.
Howe, Christopher. Origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy: Development and Technology in Asia from 1540 to the Pacific War, The University of Chicago Press, ISBN0-226-35485-7
Jentschura, Hansgeorg. Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland, 1977. ISBN0-87021-893-X.
Lyon, David, The First Destroyers. Chatham Publishing, 1 & 2 Faulkner's Alley, Cowcross St. London, Great Britain; 1996. ISBN1-55750-271-4.
Simpson, Richard V. Building The Mosquito Fleet, The US Navy's First Torpedo Boats. Arcadia Publishing, (2001); Charleston, South Carolina, US. ISBN0-7385-0508-0.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
