File:HMS Hornet (1893) (51041758558).jpg

A model of the one of the first pair of destroyers in the world, the ‘A’ Class torpedo boat destroyer HMS Hornet at the Glasgow Transport Museum, 2 March 2007.

The first warship specifically designed to combat the new torpedo boat was the British-built torpedo gunboat ‘El Destructor’ for the Spanish Navy. Sir William Henry White, Director of Naval Construction, recognised the significance of El Destructor and decided to commission a new type of warship of similar size and armament as El Destructor but much faster that could catch and destroy the latest torpedo boats. It would be called a torpedo boat destroyer, eventually shortened to destroyer. White worked in conjunction with Sir Alfred Yarrow, whose company was pre-eminent in torpedo boat design, to design two prototypes, HMS Havock with locomotive-type fire-tube boilers, and HMS Hornet, with Yarrow’s own water-tube boilers (later called the marine-type).

Both ships were launched in 1893 at Poplar, London, the Havock being the first, the Hornet second because its marine-type water-tube boilers took longer to build. The Hornet’s boilers proved the more successful and in 1899-1900 the Havock was reboilered with them.

The Havock and Hornet were the precursors of large numbers of destroyers in the next few years as the new concept was developed. Consequently, a huge variety of ships were commissioned to be designed entirely by the builders to meet very general Admiralty requirements, all to have ‘turtle-back’ fo’c’sles and a similar armament. The earliest vessels were required to reach 27 kts (though some reached only 26 kts and others reached 28 kts) and later ships 30 kts and they were simply referred to according to their speed.

However, this rather unsatisfactory situation was remedied in 1913 when a new destroyer reclassification based on a letter was applied. The 27 knotters, which had 1, 2, 3, or 4 funnels, were all A Class (many had already been scrapped by then). The 30 knotters were divided into three classes; the B Class had 4 funnels, the C Class 3 funnels and the D Class 2 funnels. 116 of these ‘turtle-backs’ (220-380 tons) were built in total from 1893-1908. However, the advent of turbines made these ships obsolete by 1907.

HMS Hornet was the second of the 42 A Class destroyers completed in 1893-95. She was one of 6 Yarrow-designed A Class ships (though even these differed quite significantly from one-another!), had 4 funnels (the Havock two, later three when reboilered), had 3,700 ihp triple expansion reciprocating engines, 2 screws, a maximum speed of 27.6 kts, measured 180 ft x 18.5 ft x 7.5 ft and had a displacement of 240 tons. She was armed with 1x12 pdr, 3x 6 pdr guns and 3x18”TT (one in bow, later removed, and two singles set on a turntable).