Havock - class destroyer The " Havock " class was a class of torpedo boat destroyer ( TBD ) of the British Royal Navy . The two ships , and , built in London in 1893 by Yarrow & Company , were the first TBDs to be completed for the Royal Navy , although the equivalent pair from J . I . Thornycroft , and , were ordered five days earlier . Background . The invention of the self - propelled torpedo by Robert Whitehead and Austrian Navy Captain Giovanni Luppis in 1866 , combined with the introduction of small fast torpedo boat s ( invented by John Ericsson in the late 19th century ) posed a threat to battleship s : large numbers of torpedo boats could overwhelm a battleship ' s defences and sink it , or distract the battleship and make it vulnerable to opposing capital ships . Torpedo boats proved devastatingly effective in the 1891 Chilean Civil War . The defence against torpedo boats was clear : small warships accompanying the fleet that could screen and protect it from attack by torpedo boats . Several European navies developed vessels variously known as torpedo boat " catchers " , " hunters " and " destroyers " , while the Royal Navy itself operated torpedo gunboat s . However , the early designs lacked the range and speed to keep up with the fleet they were supposed to protect . In 1892 , the Third Sea Lord , Rear Admiral Jackie Fisher ordered the development of a new type of ships equipped with the then novel water - tube boilers and quick - firing small calibre guns . Orders . Six ships to the specifications circulated by the Admiralty were ordered initially , comprising three different designs each produced by a different shipbuilder : Design . " Havock " was built with conventional locomotive boilers ( giving her two closely spaced funnels ) while " Hornet " was provided with 8 water tube boilers ( giving her 4 widely spaced funnels ) . In other respects they were largely identical . These boats all featured a turtleback ( i . e . rounded ) forecastle that was characteristic of early British TBDs . All six of them were removed from service and disposed of by the end of 1912 , and thus were not affected by the Admiralty decision in 1913 to group all the surviving 27 - knot and 30 - knot destroyers ( which had followed on these six 26 - knot vessels ) into four heterogeneous classes , labelled " A " , " B " , " C " and " D " classes . Construction and trials . " Havock " was launched first , on 12 August 1893 . Her sea trials on 28 October 1893 were successful , her top speed indicating that she was capable of keeping up with battleships . However , her bow torpedo tube proved to be useless as the ship would usually outrun her own torpedo . It also tended to cause the bows to dig into the sea , resulting in a very wet turtleback . As such it ( and later , the turtleback ) was absent in later destroyers . " Havock " " behaved well " on trials . It was noted that " Hornet " " steers readily and well " but her coal consumption trial revealed that she used considerably more fuel than her sister . Service . Both ships served in home waters , although " Hornet " was briefly in the Mediterranean in 1909 . " Havock " had her locomotive boilers replaced with water - tube boilers in 1899 - 1900 , altering her appearance to a more standard 3 - funnel arrangement . Fate . " Havock " and " Hornet " did not survive to see World War I , being broken up in 1912 and 1909 respectively .