Destroyer In naval terminology , a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long - endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet , convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller , powerful , short - range attackers . The first ship named and classified as a destroyer was the Spanish warship Destructor ( 1886 ) , designed by Fernando Villaamil and constructed in England in the shipyard of James and George Thomson of Clydebank , near the Yarrow shipyards . By the time of the Russo - Japanese War in 1904 , TBDs were " large , swift , and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other torpedo boats . " Although the term " destroyer " had been used interchangeably with the terms " TBD " and " torpedo boat destroyer " by navies since 1892 , the term " torpedo boat destroyer " had been generally shortened to simply " " destroyer " " by nearly all navies by the First World War . Prior to World War II , destroyers were light vessels with little endurance for unattended ocean operations ; typically a number of destroyers and a single destroyer tender operated together . After the war , the advent of the guided missile allowed destroyers to take on the surface combatant roles previously filled by battleships and cruisers . This resulted in larger and more powerful destroyers more capable of independent operation . At the beginning of the 21st century , destroyers are the heaviest surface combatant ships in general use , with only three nations ( the United States , Russia , and Peru ) operating the heavier class cruiser s and none operating battleship s or true battlecruiser s . Modern destroyers , also known as guided missile destroyer s , are equivalent in tonnage but vastly superior in firepower to cruisers of the World War II era , capable of carrying nuclear missile s . Guided missile destroyers such as the class are actually larger and more heavily armed than most previous ships classified as guided missile cruisers , due to their massive size at long , displacement ( 9200 tons ) and armament of over 90 missiles . Early history , torpedo boat destroyers . The emergence and development of the destroyer , up until World War II , was related to the invention of the self - propelled torpedo in the 1860s . A navy now had the potential to destroy a superior enemy battle fleet using steam launches to launch torpedoes . Fast boats armed with torpedoes were built and called torpedo boat s . By the 1880s , these had evolved into small ships of 50 – 100 tons , fast enough to evade enemy picket boats . At first , the danger to a battle fleet was considered only to exist when at anchor , but as faster and longer - range torpedoes were developed , the threat extended to cruising at sea . In response to this new threat , more heavily gunned picket boats called " catchers " were built which were used to escort the battle fleet at sea . They needed the same seaworthiness and endurance , and as they necessarily became larger , they became officially designated " torpedo boat destroyers " , and by the First World War were largely known as " destroyers " in English . The anti - torpedo boat origin of this type of ship is retained in its name in other languages , including French ( " contre - torpilleur " ) , Italian ( " cacciatorpediniere " ) , Portuguese ( " contratorpedeiro " ) , Polish ( " kontrtorpedowiec " ) , Czech ( " torpédoborec " ) , Greek ( " antitorpiliko " , " αντιτορπιλικό " ) , and Dutch ( " torpedobootjager " ) . Once destroyers became more than just catchers guarding an anchorage , it was realized that they were also ideal to take over the role of torpedo boats themselves , so they were fitted with torpedo tubes as well as guns . At that time , and even into World War I , the only function of destroyers was to protect their own battle fleet from enemy torpedo attacks and to make such attacks on the battleships of the enemy . The task of escorting merchant convoys was still in the future . An important development came in 1884 with , a large torpedo boat with six 47 mm quick - firing guns and three torpedo tubes . While still not fast enough to engage torpedo boats reliably , she at least had the armament to deal with them . The Japanese " torpedo boat " ( " Falcon " ) of 1885 was " the forerunner of torpedo boat destroyers that appeared a decade later " . Designed to Japanese specifications and ordered from the London Yarrow shipyards in 1885 , she was transported in parts to Japan , where she was assembled and launched in 1887 . The long vessel was armed with four 1 - pounder ( 37 mm ) quick - firing guns and six torpedo tubes , reached , and at 203 tons , was the largest torpedo boat built to date . In her trials in 1889 , " Kotaka " demonstrated that she could exceed the role of coastal defense , and was capable of accompanying larger warships on the high seas . The Yarrow shipyards , builder of the parts for the " Kotaka " , " considered Japan to have effectively invented the destroyer " . Almost immediately after the order of " Kotaka " was placed , Fernando Villaamil , second officer of the Ministry of the Navy of Spain , was put in charge of developing the concept of a new ship designed to combat boats . He placed an order for a large gunboat in November 1885 , with the British builder James and George Thompson , of Clydebank . The ship , named " Destructor " ( literally " Destroyer " ) , was laid down at the end of the year , launched in 1886 , and commissioned in 1887 . Her displacement was 380 tons , and she was armed with one 90 mm Hontoria gun , four 57 mm Nordenfelt guns , two 37 mm Hotchkiss cannon s and three Schwarzkopf tubes . Her complement was 60 men . In terms of gunnery , speed ( 22 . 5 knots in trials ) and dimensions , the specific design to chase boats and her high seas capabilities , " Destructor " is widely considered the first boat destroyer ever built . The " Destructor " is thought to have influenced the concept and designation of destroyers developed by the British Navy shortly after . The Royal Navy began experiments with the " boat catcher " , a class of 17 large boats . In tests , proved to be marginally faster than boats , but not fast enough to be decisive . The first ships to bear the formal designation " boat destroyer " ( TBD ) were the of two ships and of two ships of the Royal Navy , developed in 1892 under the newly appointed Third Sea Lord Rear Admiral " Jackie " Fisher . The " Daring " and " Decoy " were ordered on 27 June 1892 from John I . Thornycroft & Company at Chiswick , while the " Havock " and " Hornet " were ordered five days later from Yarrow at Poplar . The " Daring " and " Decoy " were completed in 1895 and the " Havock " and " Hornet " were completed in 1894 . Each was armed with a single 12 - pounder ( 76 mm ) gun , three 6 - pounders ( 57 mm ) , and three 46 cm tubes . They also had the range and speed to travel effectively with a battle fleet . The French navy , an extensive user of boats , built its first boat destroyer in 1899 , with the ' torpilleur d ' escadre ' . The United States commissioned its first boat destroyer , , Destroyer No . 1 , in 1902 and by 1906 there were 16 destroyers in service with the US Navy . Early boat - destroyer designs . Boat - destroyer designs continued to evolve around the turn of the 20th century in several key ways . The first was the introduction of the steam turbine . The spectacular unauthorized demonstration of the turbine powered " Turbinia " at the 1897 Spithead Navy Review , which , significantly , was of boat size , prompted the Royal Navy to order a prototype turbine powered destroyer , of 1899 . This was the first turbine warship of any kind and achieved a remarkable on sea trials . By 1910 the turbine had been widely adopted by all navies for their faster ships . The second development was the replacement of the boat - style turtleback foredeck by a raised forecastle for the new s built in 1903 , which provided better sea - keeping as well as more space below deck . The British experimented with oil propulsion for the of 1905 but switched temporarily back to coal for the later in 1909 . Other navies also adopted oil , for instance the USN with the of 1909 . In spite of all this variety , destroyers adopted a largely similar pattern . The hull was long and narrow , with a relatively shallow draft . The bow was either raised in a forecastle or covered under a turtleback ; underneath this were the crew spaces , extending 1 / 4 to 1 / 3 the way along the hull . Aft of the crew spaces was as much engine space as the technology of the time would allow : several boilers and engines or turbines . Above deck , one or more quick - firing guns were mounted in the bows , in front of the bridge ; several more were mounted amidships and astern . Two tube mountings ( later on , multiple mountings ) were generally found amidships . Between 1892 and 1914 destroyers became markedly larger : initially 420 tons with a length of for the US Navy ' s first of boat destroyers , up to the First World War with long destroyers displacing 1000 tons was not unusual . However , construction remained focused on putting the biggest possible engines into a small hull , resulting in a somewhat flimsy construction . Often hulls were built of steel only 1 / 8 in thick . By 1910 the steam - driven displacement ( that is , not hydroplaning ) boat had become redundant as a separate type . Germany nevertheless continued to build such boats until the end of World War I , although these were effectively small coastal destroyers . In fact Germany never distinguished between the two types , giving them pennant numbers in the same series and never giving names to destroyers . Ultimately the term " boat " came to be attached to a quite different vessel – the very fast hydroplaning motor driven MTB . Life on board destroyers . Early destroyers were extremely cramped places to live , being " without a doubt magnificent fighting vessels . . . but unable to stand bad weather . " During the Russo - Japanese War in 1904 , the commander of the " boat destroyer " described " being in command of a destroyer for a long period , especially in wartime . . . is not very good for the health . " Stating that he had originally been strong and healthy , he continued , " life on a destroyer in winter , with bad food , no comforts , would sap the powers of the strongest men in the long run . A " destroyer " is always more uncomfortable than the others , and rain , snow , and " sea - water " combine to make them damp ; in fact , in bad weather there is not a dry spot where one can rest for a moment . " The Japanese destroyer commander finished with , " Yesterday I looked at myself in a mirror for a long time ; I was disagreeably surprised to see my face thin , full of wrinkles , and as old as though I were fifty . My clothes ( uniform ) cover nothing but a skeleton , and my bones are full of rheumatism . " Although officially classified as a " boat " in 1898 by the US Navy , the USS " Porter " , a long all steel vessel displacing 165 tons , was described by her commander , LT . John C . Fremont , as " . . . a compact mass of machinery not meant to keep the sea nor to live in . . . as five sevenths of the ship are taken up by machinery and fuel , whilst the remaining two sevenths , fore and aft , are the crew ' s quarters ; officers forward and the men placed aft . And even in those spaces are placed anchor engines , steering engines , steam pipes , etc . rendering them unbearably hot in tropical regions . " Early boat - destroyer tactics and engagements . The boat destroyer ' s initial purpose was to protect against boats , but navies soon appreciated the flexibility of the fast , multi - purpose vessel that resulted . Vice - Admiral Sir Baldwin Walker laid down destroyer duties for the Royal Navy : The boat destroyer ' s first major use in combat came during the Japanese surprise attack on the Russian fleet anchored in Port Arthur at the opening of the Russo - Japanese War on 8 February 1904 . Three destroyer divisions attacked the Russian fleet in port , firing a total of 18 torpedoes . However only two Russian battleships were seriously damaged due to the proper deployment of torpedo nets . The Russian flagship , the battleship Tsesarevich , which had her nets deployed , had at least four enemy torpedoes " hung up " in them , other warships were similarly saved from further damage by the Russian navy ' s proper use of torpedo nets . World War I . While capital ship engagements were scarce in World War I , destroyer units were almost continually engaged in raiding and patrol actions . The first shot of the war at sea was fired on 5 August 1914 by a destroyer of the 2nd Flotilla , , in an engagement with the German auxiliary minelayer . Destroyers were involved in the skirmishes that prompted the Battle of Heligoland Bight , and filled a range of roles in the Battle of Gallipoli , acting as troop ’ s transports and fire support vessels , as well as their fleet - screening role . Over 80 British destroyers and 60 German torpedo - boats took part in the Battle of Jutland , which involved pitched small - boat actions between the main fleets , and several foolhardy attacks by unsupported destroyers on capital ships . Jutland also concluded with a messy night action between the German High Seas Fleet and part of the British destroyer screen . The threat evolved by World War I with the development of the submarine , or U - boat . The submarine had the potential to hide from gunfire and close underwater to fire torpedoes . Early - war destroyers had the speed and armament to intercept submarines before they submerged , either by gunfire or by ramming . Destroyers also had a shallow enough draft that torpedoes would find it difficult to hit them . The desire to attack submarines underwater led to rapid destroyer evolution during the war ; they were quickly equipped with strengthened bows for ramming , depth charge s and hydrophone s for identifying submarine targets . The first submarine casualty to a destroyer was the German , rammed by on 29 October 1914 . While " U - 19 " was only damaged , the next month successfully sank . The first depth - charge sinking was on 4 December 1916 , when was sunk by . The submarine threat meant that many destroyers spent their time on anti - submarine patrol ; once Germany adopted unrestricted submarine warfare in January 1917 , destroyers were called on to escort merchant convoys . US Navy destroyers were among the first American units to be dispatched upon the American entry to the war , and a squadron of Japanese destroyers even joined Allied patrols in the Mediterranean . Patrol duty was far from safe ; of the 67 British destroyers lost in the war , collisions accounted for 18 , while 12 were wrecked . At the end of the war the state - of - the - art was represented by the British W - class . Inter - war . The trend during World War I had been towards larger destroyers with heavier armaments . A number of opportunities to fire at capital ships had been missed during the War , because destroyers had expended all their torpedoes in an initial salvo . The British ' V ' & ' W ' classes of the late war had sought to address this by mounting six torpedo tubes in two triple mounts , instead of the four or two on earlier models . The ' V ' and ' W ' s set the standard of destroyer building well into the 1920s . The next major innovation came with the Japanese or ' special type ' , designed in 1923 and delivered in 1928 . The design was initially noted for its powerful armament of six five - inch ( 127 mm ) guns and three triple torpedo mounts . The second batch of the class gave the guns high - angle turrets for anti - aircraft warfare , and the oxygen - fueled ' Long Lance ' Type 93 torpedo . The later of 1931 further improved the torpedo armament by storing its reload torpedoes close at hand in the superstructure , allowing reloading within 15 minutes . Most other nations replied with similar larger ships . The US adopted twin five - inch ( 127 mm ) guns , and the subsequent and ( the latter of 1934 ) increased the number of torpedo tubes to 12 and 16 respectively . In the Mediterranean , the Italian Navy ' s building of very fast light cruisers of the prompted the French to produce exceptional destroyer designs . The French had long been keen on large destroyers , with their of 1922 displacing over 2 , 000 tons and carrying 130 mm guns ; a further three similar classes were produced around 1930 . The of 1935 carried five guns and nine torpedo tubes , but could achieve speeds of , which remains the record speed for a steamship and for any destroyer . The Italians ' own destroyers were almost as swift , most Italian designs of the 1930s being rated at over , while carrying torpedoes and either four or six 120 mm guns . Germany started to build destroyers again during the 1930s as part of Hitler ' s rearmament program . The Germans were also fond of large destroyers , but while the initial Type 1934 displaced over 3 , 000 tons , their armament was equal to smaller vessels . This changed from the Type 1936 onwards , which mounted heavy guns . German destroyers also used innovative high - pressure steam machinery : while this should have helped their efficiency , it more often resulted in mechanical problems . Once German and Japanese rearmament became clear , the British and American navies consciously focused on building destroyers that were smaller but more numerous than those used by other nations . The British built a series of destroyers ( the to ) which were about 1 , 400 tons standard displacement , had four guns and eight torpedo tubes ; the American of 1938 similar in size , but carried five guns and ten torpedo tubes . Realizing the need for heavier gun armament , the British built the of 1936 ( sometimes called " Afridi " after one of two lead ships ) . These ships displaced 1 , 850 tons and were armed with eight guns in four twin turrets and four torpedo tubes . These were followed by the J - class and L - class destroyers , with six guns in twin turrets and eight torpedo tubes . Anti - submarine sensors included sonar ( or ASDIC ) , although training in their use was indifferent . Anti - submarine weapons changed little , and ahead - throwing weapons , a need recognized in World War I , had made no progress . Operations in the inter - war period . During the 1920s and 1930s destroyers were often deployed to areas of diplomatic tension or humanitarian disaster . British and American destroyers were common on the Chinese coast and rivers , even supplying landing parties to protect colonial interests . World War II . By World War II the threat had evolved once again . Submarines were more effective , and aircraft had become important weapons of naval warfare ; once again the fleet destroyers were ill - equipped for combating these new targets . They were fitted with new anti - aircraft guns , radar , and forward - launched ASW weapons , in addition to their existing light guns , depth charges , and torpedoes . By this time the destroyers had become large , multi - purpose vessels , expensive targets in their own right . As a result , casualties on destroyers were one of the highest . This led to the introduction of smaller and cheaper specialized anti - submarine warships called corvette s and frigate s by the Royal Navy and destroyer escort s by the USN . A similar programme was belatedly started by the Japanese ( see ) . These ships had the size and displacement of the original torpedo boat destroyers that the contemporary destroyer had evolved from . Post - war . Some conventional destroyers were completed in the late 1940s and 1950s which built on wartime experience . These vessels were significantly larger than wartime ships and had fully automatic main guns , unit Machinery , radar , sonar , and antisubmarine weapons such as the Squid mortar . Examples include the British , US , and the Soviet s . Some World War II – vintage ships were modernized for anti - submarine warfare , and to extend their service lives , to avoid having to build ( expensive ) brand - new ships . Examples include the US FRAM I programme and the British Type 15 frigate s converted from fleet destroyers . The advent of surface - to - air missile s and surface - to - surface missile s , such as the Exocet , in the early 1960s changed naval warfare . Guided missile destroyer s ( DDG in the US Navy ) were developed to carry these weapons and protect the fleet from air , submarine and surface threats . Examples include the Soviet , the British , and the American . Modern destroyers . In the US Navy , fleet destroyers operate in support of carrier battle group s , surface action groups , amphibious groups and replenishment groups . The destroyers currently in use by the US Navy are the . Destroyers ( with a DD hull classification symbol ) primarily perform anti - submarine warfare duty while guided missile destroyers ( DDGs ) are multi - mission ( anti - submarine , anti - aircraft and anti - surface warfare ) surface combatants , with an emphasis on anti - surface warfare . The addition of cruise missile launchers has greatly expanded the role of the destroyer in strike and land - attack warfare . As the expense of heavier surface combatants has generally removed them from the fleet , destroyer tonnage has grown ( a modern has the same tonnage as a World War II light cruiser ) . In October 2013 the first of three U . S . Zumwalt - class class of destroyers left dry dock , the destroyer built with specific structural angles and a superstructure wrapped in a carbon fiber composite canopy to reduce its radar detectability by a factor of 50 . The ship , with 80 missiles and a crew of 150 , will include two Advanced Gun Systems ( AGS ) that can fire rocket powered , computer - guided shells to destroy targets 63 miles away . The Royal Navy operates the Type 45 , or " Daring " class , stealth destroyer which displaces roughly 7 , 200 tonnes . A class of six ships is envisaged . They are equipped with the UK variant of the Principal Anti - Air Missile System ( PAAMS ) and BAE Systems SAMPSON radar . The Italian Navy and the French Navy each operate two destroyers and will soon operate new FREMM destroyers . These stealth ships are armed with anti - ship missiles and Aster surface - to - air missiles . The Italian navy also operates two s . The French navy also operates seven destroyers , two destroyers and one destroyer . The French Navy and the Italian navy apply the term " first - class frigate " to their destroyers in service ( under NATO classification ) . The Royal Canadian Navy operates the s , a class of four helicopter - carrying , anti - aircraft , guided missile destroyers ( with three remaining in service ) . They were originally fitted out for anti - submarine warfare , but the entire class underwent major retrofits in the 1990s which re - purposed the ships as area air - defence destroyers . The Indian Navy operates three s . These ships are armed with Kh - 35 missiles , which have a range of 130 km , in the anti - ship role . They will be replaced by the Brahmos cruise missiles . Shtil ( SA - N - 7 Gadfly ) system is installed to counter airborne threats . The Barak 1 point - defense missile system has been installed in and will soon be installed in the other two ships of its class . These destroyers also carry anti - submarine rockets and torpedoes . The destroyers have the capability to carry two Sea King helicopters . The " Delhi " class will be augmented by the new s , the first of which was launched in March 2006 . Since 2003 , the Chinese People ' s Liberation Army Navy has launched the " Luyang " I , " Luyang " II and " Luzhou " class es . The latter two are armed with long range air defense missiles , the indigenous HQ - 9 and the Russian S - 300 respectively . Japan ' s Maritime Self - Defense Force operates the and destroyers which both employ the Aegis combat system . The Republic of Korea Navy operates several classes of destroyers including the ( KDX - III ) , the ( KDX - II ) and ( KDX - I ) of destroyers . The KDX - III is equipped with the Aegis combat system , Goalkeeper CIWS , Hyunmoo cruise missile and the Hae Sung anti - ship missile . The Russian Navy and the People ' s Liberation Army Navy of the People ' s Republic of China operate the , a class of large multi - purpose missile destroyers . They are powered by pressure - fired boilers , making them capable of speeds in excess of . Their armament consists of eight SS - N - 22 Sunburn anti - ship missiles , launchers for SA - N - 7 Gadfly anti - air missiles and two AK - 130 twin - barreled 130 mm automatic naval guns which can fire laser - guided shells . While they also carry 533 mm torpedo tubes and RBU - 6000 rocket launchers for use against submarines , their primary mission is to attack surface ships . Their anti - aircraft missiles have a surface attack mode , and both the 130 mm guns and the torpedoes are useful against ships at close range . The modern destroyers of the Russian Navy can displace about 7 , 900 tonnes , can travel at , and have a maximum range of 10 , 500 nm ( 19 , 450 km ) at . The original class ( " Udaloy I " ) was designed for anti - submarine warfare , which can be seen in their two quadruple launchers of the Metel Anti - Ship Complex ( SS - N - 14 ) , two quadruple launchers equipped with either the Type 53 torpedo on the " Udaloy I " class or RPK - 2 Viyuga ( SS - N - 15 ) on the " Udaloy II " class , and the two RBU - 6000 anti - submarine launchers . The " II " class is Russia ' s only multipurpose destroyer . The armament of the class has been modified . The Metal Anti - Ship Complex is replaced with eight P - 270 Moskit ( SS - N - 22 Sunburn ) supersonic sea - skimming anti - ship missile . For air defense , each " Udaloy " is armed with four AK - 630 CIWS s , mounted parallel to each other mid ship . They also have two Kashtan CIWSs , each capable of engaging six targets automatically by either its armament of two GSh - 6 - 30 Gatling gun s or four 9M311 ( SA - N - 11 ) surface - to - air missile s . Finally , 64 3K95 Kinzhal ( SA - N - 9 ) medium - range point defense SAMs can be fired from vertical launching system . Future destroyers . The last US Navy in service , , was decommissioned on September 21 , 2005 . The is planned to replace them ; on November 1 , 2001 , the US Navy announced the issuance of a revised Request for Proposal ( RFP ) for the Future Surface Combatant Program . Formerly known as DD 21 , the program was renamed DD ( X ) ( and later renamed to DDG - 1000 ) to more accurately reflect the program purpose , which is to produce a family of advanced technology surface combatants , not a single ship class . DD ( X ) , also called " Zumwalt " class , is much larger than traditional destroyers , nearly three thousand tons heavier than a ( 15 , 610 long tons , larger than most heavy cruiser s from the World War II era ) . It will potentially employ advanced weaponry and an all - electric Integrated Power System ; however , the construction program was subsequently reduced to just two vessels , and there is currently only funding for three in total . With the retirement of the " Spruance " class , the US Navy began commissioning an advanced variant of the " Arleigh Burke " class with expanded ASW capabilities , the " Arleigh Burke " Flight IIA , beginning with . , 34 of these vessels are in service , with more under construction .