In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast maneuverable long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller powerful short-range attackers. They were originally developed in the late 19th century as a defence against torpedo boats, and by the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, these "torpedo boat destroyers" (TBD) were "large, swift, and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other torpedo boats." Although the term "destroyer" had been used interchangeably with "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.
Before 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 guided missile destroyers more capable of independent operation.
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and heavily armed ships by speed and agility. A number of inexpensive boats attacking en masse could overwhelm a larger ship's ability to fight them off using its large, slow-firing guns. This way an inexpensive fleet of torpedo boats could defend against much larger and more expensive fleets, albeit only in the coastal areas to which their small size and limited fuel load restricted them.
The introduction of fast torpedo boats in the late 19th century was a serious concern to navies of the era. In response, navies operating large ships introduced smaller ships to counter the threat. Initially these were somewhat larger than the torpedo boats they faced, and mounted a light gun battery as well as (in most navies) torpedoes. As these designs became more formalized, they became known as "torpedo boat destroyers", and eventually evolved into the modern destroyer.
The decommissioned aircraft carrier John F ... After his motor torpedo boat was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer, he famously helped save his men from the water and relayed their stranded location to nearby allies by writing on a coconut husk ... ....
But the firepower of the enemy fleet, who were protected by six destroyers, 34 E-boats ... They ditched into the sea and P/Off Bunce was plucked from the icy water 10 minutes later by a Motor TorpedoBoat.
But the firepower of the enemy fleet, who were protected by six destroyers, 34 E-boats ... They ditched into the sea and P/Off Bunce was plucked from the icy water 10 minutes later by a Motor TorpedoBoat.
...World War as a hero having saved the lives of crew members of a patrol torpedo craft boat in the Pacific Ocean when it was rammed by a Japanese destroyer.
PT-109 was one of 15 patrol torpedo (PT) boats stationed in the Blackett Strait... The PT boats launched 30 torpedoes at the convoy, but failed to damage any of the ships. While none of the American boats ...
He was then promoted to commander of the HMS Falcon (1899), a torpedo boat destroyer charged with partaking in the “Dover patrol.” Falcon eventually met the same fate as the RMS Titanic after colliding with a trawler.
The Spectator (3 July 1897) described the ‘endless succession of battleships, cruisers, destroyers, gunboats and torpedo boats’ as offering ‘the most magnificent naval spectacle ever beheld’ ... Not everyone was entirely convinced ... Most popular ... .
They were originally called “torpedo boat destroyers.” U.S ... In April 1941—eight months before Pearl Harbor—the Gleaves-class destroyer was rescuing survivors of an international merchant ship that had been torpedoed.
Two Cypriot torpedo boats were sent to intercept the approaching Turkish flotilla but were destroyed by Turkish air support ... quality of life and with all her relationships destroyed,” Chrystalla notes.
Shinzo in Mission. Yozakura Family (PhotoCredit... The next day, Taiyo wakes up on a boat in the sea with Kyoichiro, who tells him he brought him here to bond ... Taiyo manages to fend off the bounty hunters, but a torpedo flies in and destroys the boat ... .
Other than the US Navy’s PatrolTorpedo, PT Boats, most Destroyer captains were on the edge, “when in doubt, attack, to cause fear and death in the hearts of the enemy!” ... At 09.00 the destroyer ...
On March 26 1942, the WWI-era destroyer HMS Campbeltown departed Falmouth on a mission to damage the drydock in St ... She was accompanied by 16 torpedo boats carrying commandos.
Excerpts from stories published in the April 26, 1904 edition of The Princeton Clarion-News ...Hart St ... • FredParrett has on display in his drug store a number of Kodak pictures of the torpedo boat destroyer Lawrence, taken at Evansville a few days ago.
