When the torpedo was introduced as a weapon of war around a hundred years ago, they were launched from small fast boats against the capital ships of a fleet.
Destroyers are therefore long, slim, fast, well armed vessels, lightly armoured, agile and evasive.
As the war progressed Canada acquired 8 more of these ships from the Royal Navy . They played a major role in the anti-submarine war, serving as escort group command vessels because of their basic capabilities, plus their superior detection and communications equipment. Four of them them were war losses HMCS Ottawa was torpedoed and sunk by a U-boat in September 1942 . HMCS Fraser was lost in a collision with the British cruiser HMS Calcutta during the evacuation of France in June of 1940. HMCS Fraser was replaced by HMCS Margaree which sank following a midocean convoy collision.