List of destroyer classes of the Royal Navy


This is a list of destroyer classes of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, organised chronologically by entry into service.

Torpedo boat destroyers

In 1913, the surviving members of the large heterogeneous array of older 27-knot and 30-knot torpedo boat destroyer types were organised into the A, B, C and D classes according to their design speed and the number of funnels they possessed. All were of a "turtle-back" design and, excepting a few "builder's specials", powered by reciprocating engines. It should be stressed that these A to D class designations did not exist before 1913, and only applied to those "turtle-backed" destroyers surviving to that time.
In 1913, lettered names were given to all Royal Navy destroyers, previously known after the first ship of that class. The River or E class of 1913 were the first destroyers of the Royal Navy with a high forecastles instead of "turtleback" bow making this the first class with a more recognizable modern configuration.
The following were ordered as part of the War Emergency Programme classes: