British Destroyers 1892-1918

A history of the first destroyers of the Royal Navy, which revolutionized the way war was fought at sea with new armaments and a great improvement on earlier designs.

Between 1892, when the first destroyers were laid down, and 1918, destroyers evolved radically from 27-knot, 250-ton ships into 35-knot, 1,530-ton ships. All these ships were involved in some form during World War I; the smaller, original destroyers in an auxiliary support role and the newer, larger destroyers at some of the gr...