Avon-class destroyer

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Avon-class destroyer was a class of three destroyers that served in the Royal Navy. These three funnelled 30 knot vessels were redesignated C-class destroyers in the reorganisation of 1913. [1]

Destroyer Type of warship

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller powerful short-range attackers. They were originally developed in the late 19th century by Fernando Villaamil for the Spanish Navy 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". 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.

Royal Navy Maritime warfare branch of the United Kingdoms military

The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years War against the Kingdom of France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is known as the Senior Service.

The three ships, Avon, Bittern and Otter, were built by Vickers at Barrow, were 210 feet long and their Normand boilers produced 6,300 HP and 30 knots. They were armed with the standard twelve pounder and two torpedo tubes. They carried a complement of 63 officers and men.

HMS Avon was a Vickers three-funnel, 30-knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1895–1896 Naval Estimates. She was the fifth ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1805 for an 18-gun brig-sloop, sunk in 1847.

HMS <i>Bittern</i> (1897)

HMS Bittern was a Vickers three-funnel, 30-knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1895 – 1896 Naval Estimates. She was the fourth ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1796 for an 18-gun sloop, sold in 1833.

HMS Otter was a Vickers three-funnel, 30-knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1895–1896 Naval Estimates. She was the fourth ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1782 for a fire ship, sold in 1801.

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<i>Paulding</i>-class destroyer ship class

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<i>Caldwell</i>-class destroyer ship class

The Caldwell class of destroyers served in the United States Navy near the end of World War I. Four served as convoy escorts in the Atlantic; the other two were completed too late for wartime service. Two were scrapped during the 1930s, but four survived to serve throughout World War II, three of these in service with the Royal Navy under the Destroyers for Bases Agreement.

River-class destroyer 1903 class of torpedo boat destroyers of the Royal Navy

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<i>Brazen</i>-class destroyer

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C-class destroyer (1913) 1913 class of destroyers of the Royal Navy

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.

D-class destroyer (1913)

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 (56 km/h) and they all had two funnels. In 1913 the nine surviving "30 knotter" vessels with two funnels were retrospectively classified by the Admiralty as the "D" class to provide some system to the naming of HM destroyers. In the same way those with three funnels were classified as the "C" class and those with four funnels as the "B" class. All these vessels had a distinctive "turtleback" forecastle that was intended to clear water from the bow, but actually tended to dig the bow in to anything of a sea, resulting in a very wet conning position. They were better constructed than their A-class forebears, but still were poor seaboats unable to reach top speed in anything but perfect conditions.

B-class destroyer (1913)

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.

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