British World War II destroyers At the start of World War II , the Royal Navy operated a range of destroyer classes . Some of these were legacies of World War I ( including those acquired from the United States ) , some were designed during the inter - war years and the rest were the result of wartime experience and conditions . British - built and - designed vessels were also supplied to and built by allied navies , primarily the Australian and Canadian . Evolution . British destroyer flotilla s were formed from single classes , with a slightly adapted flotilla leader ; the aim had been to produce a flotilla each year . As a broad summary , British destroyers developed from the successful V and W - class destroyer s of World War I , increasing in complexity until World War II . The Royal Navy then needed new ships quickly to increase numbers , replace losses and exploit experience and so design became simplified and cheaper to produce , with greater anti - aircraft and anti - submarine power ( War Emergency Programme ) . British destroyer design had developed with incremental changes in the inter - war years , apart from the larger Tribal - class destroyer which was not repeated . In 1937 , there was a radical change in destroyer design with the production of the more complex J , K and N classes and the modified Ls and Ms . It was deemed to be a successful design , but was discontinued in favour of the a simpler War Emergency Programme design . Later in the war , the Battle - class destroyer was developed , with a greatly enhanced anti - aircraft capability . Convoy escorts . British practice had been to produce fleet destroyers and to relegate older vessels to escort duties . This was unsatisfactory for several reasons . Firstly , the fleet destroyers ' power plants were designed for the higher speeds required of the naval fleet : they were inefficient when used for convoy speeds . Secondly , fleet destroyer range was inadequate and this was exacerbated at convoy speeds ; significant adaptations were necessary . Thirdly , armament did not address the air and submarine threats to convoys and essential inclusions affected stability . Lastly , there were insufficient units and the urgent need was more for numbers rather than quality of build . This need was initially met by adapting elderly destroyers from the Royal Navy and the United States Navy . The Hunt - class destroyer s , which were ordered from early 1939 , were the first response by the Admiralty to the circumstances of convoy escort , but they were really suitable for just North Sea and Mediterranean service . Later , new types of vessel were built for escort work in the North Atlantic - Flower and Castle - class corvettes , River , Loch and Bay - class frigates and " Black Swan " - class sloops . Weapon systems . The armament , naturally , reflected the changing circumstances of warfare and technological progress . At first , the destroyers were expected to escort , augment and protect the battle - line , that is , the capital ships . This was reflected in the emphasis on the installation and development of anti - ship weaponry - guns and torpedoes . As a result , the " legacy " and inter - war classes were deficient in anti - submarine ( A / S ) and anti - aircraft ( A / A ) weapon systems . The effect can be seen in the particularly high rate of loss to air attack in the early war years . Attempts to resolve this resulted in both improved new ship designs and in modifications to existing ships . A / A weapons were improved in number , power and fire control , with some classes equipped with main armament capable of A / A use , even at the expense of reduced calibre . Secondary armament progressed from largely ineffective batteries of machine - guns and 2 pdr " pom - pom " s to Bofors and Oerlikon rapid - fire cannon , sometimes at the expense of torpedo tubes . Some classes were fitted with a single 3 - inch AA gun , but this was unsatisfactory and discontinued . Effectiveness was further improved by improvements in fire control , such as the adoption of the Dutch Hazemeyer system . At the outbreak of war , A / S weapons were limited to the depth charge and ASDIC ( sonar ) . The weaknesses of this combination had been known before the start of the war , but the development of a replacement - the ahead - throwing weapon - had not been advanced with much urgency . The Hedgehog spigot mortar arrived in early 1943 and was fitted in older destroyers converted for convoy escort work . Hedgehog was followed by the Squid mortar later in the same year . Although it was trialled on HMS " Ambuscade " , it was rushed into service in Castle - class corvette s and Loch - class frigate s and few destroyers received this weapon before the cessation of hostilities . The effectiveness against surface threats was improved by new guns and the introduction of radar . Radar , in particular , gave British destroyers a decisive advantage such as in night actions against the Italian Regia Marina , enabling clear victories at Cape Bon and off Sfax . Gun mountings were developed to provide high angle , anti - aircraft capability and all round gun houses . Actions . It is impractical to give detail here of the entirety of British destroyer actions during the war . British destroyers were engaged in the Arctic , Atlantic , Pacific and Indian Oceans ; the North and Mediterranean seas . Of the 389 Australian , British and Canadian destroyers involved in the war , over 150 were lost or damaged beyond repair . They were used to defend and escort convoys and the fleet , to perform aggressive operations against enemy merchant and naval ships , to act as transports and to deliver bombardments in support of armies . Here , however , is a sample of significant and famous actions : Battle of Cape Bon , 1941 . The British 4th Destroyer flotilla — four destroyers ( HMS " Sikh " , HMS " Maori " , HMS " Legion " and the Dutch destroyer " Isaac Sweers " ) - intercepted and sank the Italian cruisers " Alberto di Giussano " and " Alberico da Barbiano " . The action took place off Cape Bon , Tunisia . Capture of U - 110 , 1941 . While escorting convoy OB318 , HMS " Bulldog " captured U - 110 and , critically , its top - secret Enigma cipher machine and documentation . St . Nazaire Raid , 1942 . The Town - class destroyer , HMS " Campbeltown " , the former USS " Buchanan " , was adapted to resemble a German destroyer and , loaded with troops and tons of explosive , rammed and destroyed a strategically important dry dock in St Nazaire . Battle of North Cape , 1943 . The sinking of the " Scharnhorst " by an Allied force that included HMS " Savage " , " Saumarez " , " Scorpion " , HNoMS " Stord " , HMS " Opportune " , " Virago " , " Musketeer " and " Matchless " . Sinking of the " Haguro " , 1945 . The Japanese cruiser Haguro was intercepted by the 26th Destroyer Flotilla ( HMS " Saumarez " , " Verulam " , " Venus " and " Virago " ) and sunk 55 miles ( 89 km ) off Penang , on 16 May 1945 . Legacy classes . V and W . The V and W - class destroyer s had been ordered from 1916 onwards in response to increasing German specifications and to provide vessels capable of operating in poor weather with the fleet . By year ' s end , 25 Vs and 25 Ws had been ordered . Compared with the earlier M and R classes , the Vs and Ws were larger with better freeboard and increased armament , initially four or five four - inch ( 102 mm ) gun mountings and four or six torpedo tubes . It was learnt that the Germans would mount five inch ( 127 mm ) guns , so the 4 . 7 inch was adopted for sixteen further ships that were ordered in 1918 , the " modified V & Ws " . Although still in service in the 1930s , these were no longer frontline units , but necessity saw thirty - nine adapted for escort duties in World War II . Town . The fifty Town - class destroyer s were elderly American destroyers transferred to the Royal Navy and the Canadian and Norwegian navies in an Anglo - American " ships - for - bases " deal that preceded Lend - Lease . They comprised three " Caldwell " s , twenty " Clemson " s and twenty - seven " Wickes " , dating from World War I . Like the Vs and Ws , adaptations were required for escort work . They were unpopular with officers , who found them relatively unmanoeuvrable , and with crews , whose accommodation was both cramped and damp . Nonetheless , they filled a need at a critical time . Inter - war classes . From 1930 , the Royal Navy commissioned one destroyer flotilla each year , at first with eight ships plus a slightly larger flotilla leader . Additional ships were built as required for sale abroad . The convention was to assign a letter to each class , ships ' names starting with that letter , except for the leader . The HMS " Amazon " and HMS " Ambuscade " were launched in 1926 and they were the prototypes for the following nine classes ( A to I ) launched between 1929 and 1941 . The classes J to N , 40 ships launched between 1938 and 1940 , were more complex , with heavier armament and expensive to build . The pattern was cut short by the need for numbers of basic ships arising from the hard lessons of war . The Tribal - class destroyer s broke with the incremental evolution of the inter - war classes . They were larger ships designed to match the heavier destroyers built by several other navies . A . The A class was the first full class of the inter - war years and reckoned to be a successful design for their time . A full flotilla of nine was built for the Royal Navy , between 1928 and 1931 , plus two more for the Royal Canadian Navy ( RCN ) . Eight were lost during the war . They displaced 1 , 350 tons and they could attain 35 knots . Main armament was four 4 . 7 inch QF Mark IX guns , in single mounts , and eight 21 inch ( 533 mm ) torpedo tubes . Anti - aircraft weaponry consisted of one of the unsatisfactory 3 inch Mark II 20cwt QF gun and two 2 - pounder Mark II pom pom guns . Thirty depth charges were carried . B . A near copy of the As , the B class nine ship flotilla was built between 1929 and 1931 . Five were lost . They were only slightly larger than the A class , 1360 tons ( standard ) . The original kit of four 4 . 7 inch and eight 21 inch ( 533 mm ) torpedo tubes was reduced before the start of the war to three and four respectively , to boost anti - submarine ( ASW ) capability . Anti - aircraft weaponry varied in the class , four Oerlikon 20 mm cannon s being installed on some ships . C & D . Two nine ship flotillas were planned . Only five C class ships were built and all were transferred to the RCN . Two were lost during the war , one accidentally rammed by HMS Calcutta . A third was also accidentally destroyed after the war . All nine D class ships were commissioned into the Royal Navy . One was later transferred to the RCN . These had a greater ASW capability designed in , at the expense of mine - sweeping . Only two , including the Canadian ship survived the war . Ships of both flotillas retained all of their four 4 . 7s , as well as the 3 - inch and ' pom pom ' anti - aircraft guns . In addition , eight 12 . 7 mm machine guns were fitted . E & F . Two nine ship E and F - class destroyer flotillas were built . The Es were built between 1931 and 1934 and the Fs one year later . One E - class ship was transferred to the RCN and another to the Royal Hellenic Navy ( Greece ) . Three , including the Greek and Canadian ships , survived the war . Two F - class ships were transferred to the RCN ; five survived the war , one survivor was sold to the Dominican Republic . These two flotillas were substantially a continuation of the design , maintaining the full 4 . 7 inch ( 119 mm ) gun and torpedo weaponry , but with variations for secondary armament . The engine room compartmentation was an improvement over the C and D classes . G & H . Another pair of flotillas , the G and H - class destroyer s continued the gentle evolution of the design with a revised engine room layout . Only two of nine G - class ships survived the early war years and they were transferred to the RCN and the Polish Navy during the war . Twenty - four Hs were built . In addition to the nine originally ordered for the Royal Navy , two were delivered to the Greek Navy , seven to the Argentines and six more , ordered by Brazil , were bought for British use . One ship was transferred to Canada . Five survived the war . One of the Greek ships was captured by the Germans and used by them in the Mediterranean . The six requisitioned Brazilian ships are sometimes referred to as the " Havant " class . The Brazilians subsequently built their own , the " Acre " - class destroyers , based on the H class but with five - inch ( 127 mm ) guns supplied by the United States . Two of the Hs had a modified bridge arrangement arising from the use of a new and taller gun mounting . The new design became the standard . I . Nine I - class destroyer s were ordered for the Royal Navy , plus four more for Turkey . Two of the Turkish ships were bought by the British and two were delivered . They repeated the preceding G - class destroyer s , ten torpedo tubes , instead of eight . J , K and N . The J , K and N - class destroyer s were a new destroyer design , larger and more powerfully armed than their predecessors . Twenty - four vessels were ordered , in three eight ship flotillas , built between 1937 and 1942 . The standard displacement was increased from around 1350 tons ( classes A to I ) to around 1700 tons , length by 30 feet ( 9 m ) to more than 355 . The engine room layout was made more compact , despite vulnerability to complete engine failure by a single well - placed hit . The basic strength of these ships was derived through longitudinal members instead of the earlier transverse ones . The design was deemed sturdy , compact and successful and provided the basis for the following classes . The four single 4 . 7 inch ( 119 mm ) guns were increased to three twin mountings ( originally four twins ) , and two five tube banks of torpedo tubes . The anti - aircraft weaponry wes not significantly improved , however , and this was a serious flaw . In 1940 and 1941 , the anti - aircraft establishment was increased in all ships . Their after torpedo tubes were landed and replaced with a single 4 inch ( 102 mm ) gun on a high angle mounting . The ineffective 0 . 5 inch machine guns were replaced with single 20 mm Oerlikon guns , and another pair were added on the searchlight platform , amidships . Further modifications took place in 1942 , upgrading the single Oerlikons and reinstating the aft torpedo tubes . The radar installations were frequently enhanced during the ships ' service . L and M . The new " King George V " - class battleship s were faster than their predecessors and needed escorts that could match them , with an adequate margin . The L and M - class destroyer s were the response , achieving 35 knots . To protect gun crews from the anticipated wetness , the Admiralty specified enclosed gun houses . These were , however , slow to build and so the first four L class , were fitted with twin 4 - inch in Mark XVI mountings , as already in use on the Hunt escort destroyers and elsewhere . The remaining Ls and the following Ms ( near copies ) received the intended twin 4 . 7 inch ( 119 mm ) guns . In total , there were eight of each class . Tribal . The Tribal - class destroyer s were a one - off class built as a response to the large destroyers of Germany , France and Italy . Two eight ship flotillas were built for the Royal Navy and another for the RCN ( four ships completed post - war ) . Three more Tribals were taken by the RAN . They were built with four twin 4 . 7 inch mountings , later reduced to three to accommodate additional AA weaponry . Foreign - built destroyers . At the start of the war , or afterwards , the Royal Navy acquired vessels designed and built for foreign navies , in foreign shipyards . These were mainly of U . S . origin - the Town class described above , but there were also numbers of French and Dutch destroyers . Ships designed built for foreign navies in Britain are described under the relevant class . Dutch . The six Dutch ships were old designs of pre – World War I vintage . Most were used as submarine tenders and all were scrapped before the war ' s end . French . Six modern French destroyers of the " Pomone " class and two older " Simoun " class ships were acquired . One was lost in bad weather in December 1940 and the remainder were returned to France in 1945 . German . One German destroyer , " Z38 " , was ceded to Britain after the end of the war and renamed " HMS Nonsuch ( D107 ) " . It was scrapped in 1949 . In general , German designs were intended for short - range duties in the North and Baltic seas and were unsuited to ocean duties by limited range and wetness in heavy seas . War time designs . Hunt . Although the Hunt - class destroyer s had their origin before war started , experience caused the design to be changed , resulting in four different types . War Emergency Programme . The classes O to Cr met the utilitarian need : smaller ships than their predecessors with reduced main gun firepower but more suitable for convoy escort , anti - submarine warfare and anti - aircraft defence . O and P . The O class was the first of the War Emergency Programme destroyers . Preceding classes had been costly in terms of money , time and tonnage . A " basic " pattern was developed to perform with the fleet and to react to the growing threat from air attack . The O and P - class destroyer s were ordered to meet this brief , some with high - angle ( HA ) four inch ( 102 mm ) guns to supplement the secondary anti - aircraft Oerlikon s . Q and R . The Q - class destroyer s represented the first " War Standard " destroyer design which continued through succeeding classes . S and T . The S - class destroyer s were a development of the " War Standard " with HA 4 . 7 inch ( 119 mm ) guns , twin Bofors 40 mm gun s ( in place of the earlier " pom - pom s " ) , with the Dutch designed Hazemeyer fire control system and increased depth charge capacity . W and Z . Two eight ship flotillas ( 9th and 10th Emergency Flotillas ) launched during 1943 and 1944 . None were lost . Battle . Battle - class destroyer s were designed to provide improved anti - aircraft defence on a platform with improved stability . The early war years had exposed the weakness of the inter - war designs in this respect and there had been serious losses to air attack . As a result , the " Battles " were significantly larger ( effectively successors to the Tribals ) and incorporated stabilisers ; the main battery was four 4 . 5 inch ( 114 mm ) guns on two twin high angle ( HA ) mountings , supported by fourteen 40 mm Bofors cannon s . The superstructure was so arranged as to maximise the fields of fire . The design authorised for 1942 was actively debated even after construction had been started . As a result later ships were sufficiently modified to form a separate sub - class - the " 1943 Battle class " . In addition , two enlarged ships were ordered , with a rearranged engine room layout and capacity for a third twin 4 . 5 inch turret . Two eight ship flotillas were ordered of the original " 1942 " design and four flotillas of the later " 1943 " design . In the event , construction and completion were slow , due in part to the unavailability of equipment . As the outcome of the war became assured , the need for warships declined and the numbers of the two Battle types was reduced to a total of twenty - four ships . Only one saw action in the Pacific . Weapon . Weapon - class destroyer Casualties . During the war , 153 British , Canadian and Australian destroyers were lost .