# 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; 35 mph) and they all had two funnels.

## Classification

In 1913 the nine surviving "30 knotter" vessels with two funnels (all ten had been built by Thornycroft, but Ariel was lost before their renaming as D class) 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 (the "26 knotter" and "27 knotter" groups), but still were poor seaboats unable to reach top speed in anything but perfect conditions.

## Design

They generally displaced 355 to 370 tons and had a length of 210 ft (64 m). All were powered by triple expansion steam engines for 5,700 indicated horsepower (4,300 kW) and had coal-fired water-tube boilers, except for the final vessel (Stag) in which the engine power was slightly raised to 5,800 ihp (4,300 kW). Armament was one QF 12-pounder gun on a bandstand on the forecastle, five QF 6-pounder guns (two sided abreast the conning tower, two sided between the funnels and one on the quarterdeck) and two single tubes for 18-inch (450 mm) torpedoes.
Due to the successful development of their previous 26 and 27-knot torpedo boat destroyers, John I Thornycroft & Company developed their two funnel design for the 1894/1895 – 1897/1898 building programs. The ships were considered an incremental improvement to the previous 27-knot design of the 1893/94 program. This design would be used for all follow-on turtleback ships under the 30-knot specification. The 30-knot torpedo boat destroyers built by Thornycroft were referred to as two funnel – 30-knot ships and were not assigned a class name at the time.
They featured a large fore-bridge, mast halfway between bridge and fore funnel, turtleback cut-away bow, large round stern, both torpedo tubes on centerline aft of second funnel and two funnels. They had a Thornycroft stern with the rudder not visible. They had dual rudders which made them very responsive to the helm.

## Ships

All ten of the D class were built by Thornycroft at Chiswick, in four batches.
* First group (ordered 10 May 1895 under 1894–1895 programme);
** Desperate
** Fame
** Foam
** Mallard - ordered 30 May vice 10 May
* Second group (ordered 23 January 1896 under 1895–1896 programme) - identical with the preceding group;
** Angler
** Ariel
* Third group (ordered 21 April 1896 under 1896–1897 programme) - modified from the previous six vessels;
** Coquette
** Cygnet
** Cynthia
* Last group (ordered 7 September 1897 under 1897–1898 programme) - with slightly enhanced engine power;
** Stag

### Key dates and fates

| Name | Yard number | Laid down | Launched | Trials | Completed | Fate |
| Desperate | 305 | 1 Jul 1895 | 15 Feb 1896 | 26 Jun 1896 (a) | Feb 1897 | Sold for scrap 20 May 1920, to Thos. W. Ward, Milford Haven |
| Fame | 306 | 4 Jul 1895 | 15 Apr 1896 | 15 Apr 1897 | Jun 1897 | Sold for scrap 31 August 1921, at Hong Kong. |
| Foam | 307 | 16 Jul 1895 | 8 Oct 1896 | 7 May 1897 | Jul 1897 | Sold for scrap 26 May 1914, at Chatham |
| Mallard | 308 | 13 Sep 1895 | 19 Nov 1896 | 17 Sep 1897 | Oct 1897 | Sold for scrap 10 February 1920, to South Alloa Shipbreaking Co. |
| Angler | 313 | 21 Dec 1896 | 2 Feb 1897 | 27 May 1898 3 Jun 1898 | Jul 1898 | Sold for scrap 20 May 1920, to Thos. W. Ward, Milford Haven |
| Ariel | 314 | 23 Apr 1896 | 5 Mar 1897 | 7 Aug 1898 17 Aug 1898 | Oct 1898 | Wrecked at Malta 19 April 1907 |
| Coquette | 319 | 8 Jun 1896 | 25 Nov 1897 | 27 Jul 1899 20 Dec 1898 | Jan 1899 | Mined and sunk in the North Sea, 7 March 1916 |
| Cygnet | 320 | 25 Sep 1896 | 3 Sep 1898 | 5 May 1899 | Feb 1900 | Sold for scrap 29 April 1920, to Thos. W. Ward, Rainham |
| Cynthia | 321 | 16 Jul 1896 | 8 Jan 1898 | 26 Oct 1899 | Jun 1899 | Sold for scrap 29 April 1920, to Thos. W. Ward, Rainham |
| Stag | 334 | 16 Apr 1898 | 18 Nov 1899 | 19 Jun 1900 | Sep 1900 | Sold for scrap 17 March 1921, to Thos. W. Ward, Grays |
Notes: (a) Desperate had a final run over the measured mile on 4 September 1896. Altogether, this vessel completed nine successive preliminary trials.