The Town-class destroyers were a group of 50 destroyers of the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy that were in service during the Second World War. They were transferred from the United States Navy in exchange for military bases in the British West Indies and Newfoundland, as outlined in the Destroyers for Bases Agreement between the United Kingdom and United States, signed on 2 September 1940. They were known as "four-pipers" or "four-stackers" because they had four smokestacks (funnels). Later classes of destroyers typically had one or two.
In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number. Historically, naval ships flew a flag that identified a flotilla or type of vessel. For example, the Royal Navy used a red burgee for torpedo boats and a pennant with an H for torpedo boat destroyers. Adding a number to the type-identifying flag uniquely identified each ship.
The Laforey class was a class of 22 torpedo boat destroyers of the Royal Navy, twenty of which were built under the Naval Programme of 1912–13 and a further two under the 2nd War Emergency Programme of 1914. As such they were the penultimate pre-war British destroyer design. All served during World War I during which three were lost; the survivors were all scrapped in 1921-23.
The Buckley-class destroyer escorts were 102 destroyer escorts launched in the United States in 1943–44. They served in World War II as convoy escorts and antisubmarine warfare ships. The lead ship was USS Buckley which was launched on 9 January 1943. The ships had General Electric steam turbo-electric transmission. The ships were prefabricated at various factories in the United States, and the units brought together in the shipyards, where they were welded together on the slipways.
HMS Bat was a Palmer-built three funnel, 30 knot torpedo boat destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1895 – 1896 Naval Estimates. She was the third ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1815 for a revenue cutter in service until 1848. Bat was classified along with similar vessels as a C-class destroyer in 1913.
Chamois leather is a type of porous leather, traditionally the skin of the chamois, a type of European mountain goat, but today made almost exclusively from the flesh split of a sheepskin.
The River-class destroyer was a class of torpedo boat destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the first few years of the 20th century, and which saw extensive service in World War I. These 37 vessels were all constructed to disparate builders' designs, just like the preceding classes.
The C class as designated in 1913 was a heterogeneous group of torpedo boat destroyers (TBDs) built for the Royal Navy in the late-1890s. They were constructed to the individual designs of their builders to meet Admiralty specifications. The uniting feature of the class was a top speed of 30 knots, a "turtleback" forecastle and that they all had three funnels. The funnels were spaced equidistantly and were of equal height, but the central one was thicker.
The Hawthorn MClass were a class of two destroyers built for the Royal Navy under the pre-war 1913-14 Programme for World War I service.
The D class as they were known from 1913 was a fairly homogeneous group of torpedo boat destroyers (TBDs) built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1890s. They were all constructed to the individual designs of their builder, John I. Thornycroft & Company of Chiswick, to meet Admiralty specifications. The uniting feature of the class was a top speed of 30 knots and they all had two funnels.
The B class as designated in 1913 was a heterogeneous group of torpedo boat destroyers (TBDs) built for the Royal Navy in the late 1890s. They were constructed to the individual designs of their builders to meet Admiralty specifications, the uniting feature being a specified top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h) and four funnels, although the funnel spacings differed between ships. All "30 knotter" vessels with four funnels were classified by the Admiralty as the B class in 1913 to provide some system to the naming of HM destroyers. At the same time all "30 knotter" vessels with three funnels were classified by the Admiralty as the C class and those with two funnels became the D class.
The first R class were a class of 62 destroyers built between 1916 and 1917 for the Royal Navy. They were an improvement, specifically in the area of fuel economy, of the earlier Admiralty M-class destroyers. The most important difference was that the Admiralty R class had two shafts and geared turbines, compared with the three shafts and direct turbines of the Admiralty M class, but in appearance the R class could be distinguished from its predecessors by having the after 4-inch gun mounted in a bandstand. The Admiralty ordered the first two of this class of ships in May 1915. Another seventeen were ordered in July 1915, a further eight in December 1915, and a final twenty-three in March 1916.
The Acorn class was a class of twenty destroyers of the Royal Navy all built under the 1909-1910 Programme, and completed between 1910 and 1911. The Acorns served during World War I.
The Almirante Lynch class were a group of destroyers built for the Chilean Navy prior to World War I. Initially six ships were planned, two being delivered. The other four were purchased by and incorporated into the Royal Navy during World War I as the Faulknor class. Following the war, the three surviving ships were returned to the Chilean Navy and renamed the Almirante Williams class. The class of ships was named after Admiral Patricio Lynch, Chilean sailor, hero of the War of the Pacific.
HMS Chamois was a Palmer three-funnel, 30-knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1895–1896 Naval Estimates. She was the first ship of the Royal Navy to carry this name. She was commissioned in 1897 and served in both the Channel and the Mediterranean. She foundered in 1904 after her own propeller pierced her hull.
HMS Sylvia was a Doxford three funnel - 30 knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1896 – 1897 Naval Estimates. She was the sixth ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1806 for a cutter sold in 1816.
The Indomito class was a class of destroyers of the Italian Royal Navy before and during World War I. Eight were built, six of which at Naples by Societa Pattison, between 1910 and 1913. They were the first large Italian destroyers and the first fitted with steam turbines. The class is sometimes also called the I class. Two of the class were sunk during World War I, but the four surviving ships remained in service until 1937–38. One of the class, Insidioso, was reinstated during World War II and served in the Règia Marina and the German Kriegsmarine before being sunk by U.S. aircraft in late 1944.
HMS Albatross was an experimental torpedo boat destroyer of the Royal Navy authorised under the 1896–97 Naval Estimates and built by John I. Thornycroft & Company of Chiswick on the River Thames. She was contracted to be faster, larger and more powerful than existing designs.
Two ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Chamois after the mountain goat of the same name:
Royal Navy 
