Editing Destroyer (section)

==Origins==
[[File:Fernando Villaamil (ca 1897).jpg|thumb|[[Fernando Villaamil]], credited as the inventor of the destroyer concept, who died in action during the [[Battle of Santiago de Cuba]] in 1898.]]
The emergence and development of the destroyer 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 [[launch (boat)|launches]] to fire torpedoes. Cheap, fast boats armed with torpedoes called [[torpedo boat]]s were built and became a threat to large capital ships near enemy coasts. The first seagoing vessel designed to launch the self-propelled [[Whitehead torpedo]] was the 33-ton {{HMS|Lightning|1876|6}} in 1876.<ref name=ast>{{cite journal |last=Toby |first=A. Steven |year=1985 |title=The "Can-Do" Tin Can |journal=Proceedings |volume=111 |issue=10 |pages=108–113 |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]] }}</ref> She was armed with two drop collars to launch these weapons; these were replaced in 1879 by a single [[torpedo tube]] in the bow. By the 1880s, the type had evolved into small ships of 50–100 tons, fast enough to evade enemy picket boats.

At first, the threat of a torpedo-boat attack to a battle fleet was considered to exist only when at anchor, but as faster and longer-range torpedo boats and 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 significant seaworthiness and endurance to operate with the battle fleet, and as they inherently became larger, they became officially designated "torpedo-boat destroyers", and by the First World War were largely known as "destroyers" in English. The antitorpedo boat origin of this type of ship is retained in its name in other languages, including [[French language|French]] ({{lang|fr|contre-torpilleur}}), [[Italian language|Italian]] ({{lang|it|cacciatorpediniere}}), [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] ({{lang|pt|contratorpedeiro}}), [[Czech language|Czech]] ({{lang|cs|torpédoborec}}), [[Greek language|Greek]] ({{transliteration|el|antitorpiliko}}, {{lang|el|αντιτορπιλικό}}), [[Dutch language|Dutch]] ({{lang|nl|torpedobootjager}}) and, up until the Second World War, [[Polish language|Polish]] ({{lang|pl|kontrtorpedowiec}}, now obsolete).<ref>Lyon p.  8</ref>

Once destroyers became more than just catchers guarding an anchorage, they were recognized to be also ideal to take over the offensive role of torpedo boats themselves, so they were also fitted with torpedo tubes in addition to their antitorpedo-boat 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.

===Early designs===
[[File:Kotaka.jpg|thumb|The [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]'s ''Kotaka'' (1887)]]
An important development came with the construction of [[HMS TB 81 (1885)|HMS ''Swift'']] in 1884, later redesignated TB 81.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/torpedo_boats.htm |title=Torpedo Boats |publisher=Battleships-Cruisers.co.uk}}</ref> This was a large (137 ton) torpedo boat with four [[QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss|47&nbsp;mm quick-firing guns]] and three torpedo tubes. At {{convert|23.75|kn|lk=in}}, while still not fast enough to engage enemy torpedo boats reliably, the ship at least had the armament to deal with them.

Another forerunner of the torpedo-boat destroyer (TBD) was the Japanese torpedo boat<ref>Jentschura p. 126</ref> {{ship|Japanese warship|Kotaka||2}} (''Falcon''), built in 1885.<ref>{{cite book |last=Evans and Peattie |first=David C. and Mark R. |title=''Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887–1941'' |year=1997 |publisher=[[Naval Institute Press]] |location=Annapolis, Maryland  |isbn=978-0-87021-192-8}}</ref> Designed to Japanese specifications and ordered from the Isle of Dogs, London [[Yarrow shipyards|Yarrow shipyard]] in 1885, she was transported in parts to Japan, where she was assembled and launched in 1887. The {{convert|165|ft|m|adj=on}} long vessel was armed with four 1-pounder (37&nbsp;mm) quick-firing guns and six [[torpedo]] tubes, reached {{convert|19|knot|km/h}}, and at 203&nbsp;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 [[warship]]s on the high seas. The Yarrow shipyards, builder of the parts for ''Kotaka'', "considered Japan to have effectively invented the destroyer".<ref>{{cite book |last=Howe |first=Christopher |title=''The Origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy: Development and Technology in Asia from 1540 to the Pacific War'' |year=1996 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago, Illinois |isbn=978-0-226-35485-9}}</ref>

The German [[aviso]] {{SMS|Greif|1886|2}}, launched in 1886, was designed as a "''Torpedojäger''" (torpedo hunter), intended to screen the fleet against attacks by torpedo boats. The ship was significantly larger than torpedo boats of the period, displacing some {{cvt|2266|t|LT}}, with an armament of {{cvt|10.5|cm}} guns and {{cvt|3.7|cm}} [[Hotchkiss revolver cannon]].<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Hildebrand| first1 = Hans H.| last2 = Röhr| first2 = Albert| last3 = Steinmetz| first3 = Hans-Otto| year = 1993| title = Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien: ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart (Band 4)| trans-title=The German Warships: Biographies: A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present (Vol. 4)| language = de| publisher = Mundus Verlag| location = Ratingen| isbn = 978-3-7822-0382-1|name-list-style=amp|pages=17–18}}</ref>

===Torpedo gunboat===
{{Main|Torpedo gunboat}}
[[File:HMS Spider.png|thumb|HMS ''Spider'', an early model of torpedo gunboat]]
The first vessel designed for the explicit purpose of hunting and destroying torpedo boats was the [[torpedo gunboat]]. Essentially very small cruisers, torpedo gunboats were equipped with torpedo tubes and an adequate gun armament, intended for hunting down smaller enemy boats. By the end of the 1890s, torpedo gunboats were made obsolete by their more successful contemporaries, the TBDs, which were much faster.

The first example of this was {{HMS|Rattlesnake|1886|6}}, designed by [[Nathaniel Barnaby]] in 1885, and commissioned in response to the [[Panjdeh Incident|Russian War scare]].<ref name="L&W">{{cite book |last=Lyon & Winfield |title=The Sail and Steam Navy List|chapter=10|pages=82–3}}</ref> The gunboat was armed with torpedoes and designed for hunting and destroying smaller [[torpedo boat]]s. Exactly {{convert|200|ft|m}} long and {{convert|23|ft|m}} in beam, she displaced 550 tons. Built of steel, ''Rattlesnake'' was unarmoured with the exception of a {{fraction|3|4}}-inch protective deck. She was armed with a single [[BL 4 inch naval gun Mk I – VI|4-inch/25-pounder breech-loading gun]], six [[QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss|3-pounder QF guns]] and four {{convert|14|in|mm|adj=on}} torpedo tubes, arranged with two fixed tubes at the bow and a set of torpedo-dropping carriages on either side. Four torpedo reloads were carried.<ref name="L&W" />

A number of torpedo gunboat classes followed, including the ''Grasshopper'' class, the {{sclass|Sharpshooter|torpedo gunboat|4}}, the {{sclass|Alarm |torpedo gunboat|4}}, and the {{sclass|Dryad|torpedo gunboat|4}} – all built for the Royal Navy during the 1880s and the 1890s. In the 1880s, the [[Chilean Navy]] ordered the construction of two {{sclass|Almirante Lynch|torpedo gunboat|4}} torpedo gunboats from the British shipyard Laird Brothers, which specialized in the construction of this type of vessel. The novelty is that one of these ''Almirante Lynch''-class torpedo boats managed to sink the ironclad {{ship|Chilean ironclad|Blanco Encalada||2}} with self-propelled torpedoes in the [[Battle of Caldera Bay]] in 1891, thus surpassing its main function of hunting torpedo boats.

[[Fernando Villaamil]], second officer of the Ministry of the [[Spanish Navy|Navy of Spain]], designed his own torpedo gunboat to combat the threat from the torpedo boat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.spanamwar.com/Vilamil.htm|title=Capitan de Navio Fernando Villaamil, 1898|website=www.spanamwar.com|accessdate=18 December 2022}}</ref> He asked several British shipyards to submit proposals capable of fulfilling these specifications. In 1885, the Spanish Navy chose the design submitted by the shipyard of James and [[George Thomson (shipbuilder)|George Thomson]] of [[Clydebank]]. {{ship|Spanish warship|Destructor|1886|2}} (''Destroyer'' in Spanish) was laid down at the end of the year, launched in 1886, and commissioned in 1887. Some authors considered her as the first destroyer ever built.<ref>"Under the influence of Fernando Villamil (1845–1898), Spain in 1886 produced the first torpedo boat destroyer." Kern, Robert & Dodge, Meredith: ''Historical dictionary of modern Spain, 1700–1988.'' Greenwood Press, 1990, page 361. {{ISBN|0-313-25971-2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Polmar|first1=Norman|title=Navy's Most Wanted™: The Top 10 Book of Admirable Admirals, Sleek Submarines, and Other Naval Oddities|last2=Cavas|first2=Christopher|publisher=Potomac Books|year=2009|isbn=978-1597976558|pages=44}}</ref>

[[File:Contratorpedero Destructor (en 1890).svg|thumb|Spanish warship [[Spanish warship Destructor|''Destructor'']] in 1890, the first destroyer ever built]]

She displaced 348 tons, and was the first warship<ref>{{Cite book|title=The illustrated history of ships|last=Cornwell|first=Edward Lewis|publisher=Crescent Books|year=1979|isbn=0517287951|pages=150}}</ref> equipped with twin [[triple-expansion engine]]s generating {{convert|3784|ihp|0|abbr=on}}, for a maximum speed of {{convert|22.6|kn|km/h}},<ref name=dest>{{Cite web|url=https://accounts.google.com/v3/signin/identifier?dsh=S-200562420%3A1671362468167974&continue=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fsites%2Fsystem%2Ferrors%2FWebspaceNotFound%3Fpath%3D%2Frlmbuquesdeguerra%2Fcontratorpedero-destructor&followup=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fsites%2Fsystem%2Ferrors%2FWebspaceNotFound%3Fpath%3D%2Frlmbuquesdeguerra%2Fcontratorpedero-destructor&passive=1209600&service=jotspot&flowName=WebLiteSignIn&flowEntry=ServiceLogin&ifkv=AeAAQh4ygN8Myw04e4GrFy_UtXYT1uUliIutQB9C-gLkpfx-kFM_8r6fQa48u2dDzkqfuZMdxSVh|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100226031523/http://sites.google.com/site/rlmbuquesdeguerra/contratorpedero-destructor#prof|url-status=dead|title=Google Sites: Sign-in|archivedate=26 February 2010|website=accounts.google.com|accessdate=18 December 2022}}</ref> which made her one of the faster ships in the world in 1888.<ref>Illustrated Naval and Military Magazine: A monthly journal devoted to all subjects connected with Her Majesty's land and sea forces, 1888, v 9, page 280</ref> She was armed with one {{convert|90|mm|in|adj=on|abbr=on}} Spanish-designed [[Hontoria]] [[Breech-loading weapon|breech-loading]] gun,<ref name="Bernie2">Fitzsimmons, Bernard: ''The Illustrated encyclopedia of 20th century weapons and warfare.'' Columbia House, 1978, v. 8, page 835</ref> four {{convert|57|mm|in|adj=on|abbr=on}} ([[QF 6 pounder Nordenfelt|6-pounder]]) [[Thorsten Nordenfelt|Nordenfelt]] guns, two {{convert|37|mm|in|adj=on|abbr=on}} (3-pdr) [[Hotchkiss et Cie|Hotchkiss]] cannons and two {{convert|15|in|cm|adj=on}} [[Schwartzkopff torpedo]] tubes.<ref name=dest /> The ship carried three torpedoes per tube.<ref name="Bernie2"/> She carried a crew of 60.<ref name=dest />

In terms of gunnery, speed, and dimensions, the specialised design to chase torpedo boats and her high-seas capabilities, ''Destructor'' was an important precursor to the TBD.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.quarterdeck.org/100th/DDs.htm#prof|title=The Destructor -100 Years|website=www.quarterdeck.org|access-date=2019-04-28|archive-date=2021-02-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226160934/http://www.quarterdeck.org/100th/DDs.htm#prof|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Bernie2"/>