River - class destroyer The River - class ( re - designated in 1913 as the E - class ) destroyer was a class of torpedo boat destroyer built for the Royal Navy at the turn of the 20th century , and which saw extensive service in World War I . The class introduced new features to destroyer design , placing a greater emphasis on seakeeping and endurance and less on a high maximum speed in good weather . All the ships were named after British rivers , and as such were the first Royal Navy destroyer class to be named systematically ( see the article naming conventions for destroyers of the Royal Navy for more details ) . Genesis . The concept for the River class began in December 1900 , with a request from John de Robeck , then the senior destroyer officer in the Mediterranean Fleet , for a new class of destroyer with a longer range than the existing " 30 - knotter " and " 27 - knotter " types . Robeck ' s specification called for a range of 1650 nm at a sustained speed of 18 knots ; the " 30 - knotter " could only make 1400 nm at its cruising speed of 13 knots . Robeck also called for various modifications to destroyer design to help ships make more seaworthy , in particular keeping up their speed in adverse weather conditions . The most noticeable change would be to introduce a forecastle rather than a turtleback for the hull forward of the bridge , and that the bridge should be placed further aft to keep it clear of spray from waves breaking over the bow . Furthermore , he felt that destroyers should run their speed trials with a more realistic load of fuel and supplies . The " 30 - knotter " type might have a nominal speed of 30 knots , but even in very good weather this was never achieved in service . Other officers serving on Royal Navy destroyers made similar observations about their ships . Robeck ' s commanding officer , Admiral " Jackie " Fisher , drew a comparison with the German S90 class destroyer , which had impressed Royal Navy officers who had seen it . In July 1901 the Director of Naval Construction worked on sketch designs for future destroyers , which included many of the features Robeck and his colleagues advocated , as well as a heavier and more reliable kind of engine . The trials speed was initially be 27 knots , though further requirements for increased strength reduced the speed to 25 . 5 knots . While this speed seemed like a significant reduction , it would be measured with a realistic 95 tons of coal loaded on board , and the better seakeeping properties meant that the new ships would perform better than a " 30 - knotter " in any seas except for a flat calm . Design . As with other early British destroyer classes , the Admiralty invited specialist private firms to submit their own designs for destroyers which would meet the specification . The idea was to use the builders ' knowledge of building small , fast , ships to help cram powerful machinery into a small hull . For this reason , details of the hull and internal arrangements differed between ships in the class . Nevertheless , the " River " class can clearly be distinguished from previous destroyers because of its raised forecastle . Previous British designs that had a low " turtle - back " forecastle , which , although intended to clear the bows , caused them to dig in to the sea , resulting in a very wet conning position . The bridge was also further back than in previous destroyer models . All ships were coal fired and all but three had triple expansion steam engines ; " Eden " , " Stour " and " Test " were powered by steam turbines . " Eden " was given turbines to test their viability for future destroyer classes , with three propellers on each of her two shafts , to transmit the power at the high revolutions of the direct drive turbines , a feature of the earlier " Turbinia " . Performance . With a general increase in size and more solid construction , the Rivers became the first truly ocean going and useful torpedo boat destroyer s in Royal Navy service . Despite making only 25 knots ( previous classes had made 27 to under the most favourable conditions ) , the increased seaworthiness meant that they could maintain this speed into a sea and that they remained workable and fightable at the same time . Notwithstanding a variety of design differences , all ships had either two broad funnels or two pairs of narrow funnels . All ships surviving the war were sold out of service by late 1920 . Ships . Thirty - four ships were ordered - ten ships under the 1901 - 02 Programme , eight ships under the 1902 - 03 Programme ( with one extra purchased when Palmers built it on speculation ) , and fifteen ships under the 1903 - 04 Programme ; two additional vessels ( also built on speculation ) were purchased in 1909 under the 1908 - 09 Programme .