Imprint:
United Kingdom : William Kimber & Company Ltd., 1971
Notes:
The ubiquitous destroyer, the Navy's maid of all work, is so familiar, so distinctive among small ships, that it is surprising how confusing are its origins. The idea behind its genesis was that it should meet the threat of the torpedo - which really began to look like a weapon of war in the 1860's; it was quickly realised how vulnerable the battleships could be to these small craft carrying their lethal torpedos close in to the armoured leviathans whose guns were largely on too grand a scale to engage them.
The Admiralty first called for designs for Torpedo Boat Catchers, and then Torpedo Boat Destroyers; in the meantime they hung nets and booms around the big ships to protect them from the torpedo - which fortunately proved slightly erratic in operation. From this early idea, from the Torpedo Boat Destroyer, evolved the destroyer itself - somewhat larger than the catcher, and soon itself armed with torpedoes and ultimately with 4-inch guns, making the destroyer a formidable sea-going ship with considerable range and endurance. In the years leading up to the First World War, the destroyers were soon numbered in flotillas, and larger operations in mass became tactically important.
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