The latest and greatest in terms of nautical weaponry in the late 1800s was the torpedo boat. These very small and fast boats were armed with the latest anti-ship weapon, the torpedo. As they were inexpensive to build and had the power to sink the largest ship, nations built a considerable number of the small, fast boats. Of course, one needed a counter to them so the torpedo boat destroyer was developed. These were larger boats, but just as fast and were also armed with torpedoes as well as with deck guns.

These boats were in the 400 ton range and though promising they were not great sea-keepers, being fast only in calm waters and not having a lot of range. However, they were determined to be effective and so were also built in fairly large numbers. It became cumbersome to call them torpedo boat destroyers so the term was shortened to destroyers and a class of ship was born.

This book concentrates on those destroyers built by the British from its inception in 1892 until the end of WWI in 1918. As the design matured, they quickly went from being boats to actual ships with proper sea handling and reasonable crew comforts. They also switched their task from just taking out after enemy torpedo boats to being used with the fleet at scouts or as vessels used to attack the larger fleet units of the foe.

In this latest book in the New Vanguard series, the author takes a look at the many different classes of the destroyer starting with the earliest classes and continuing up until the end of WWI. This also includes a look at the larger flotilla leader type of boats which were designed to house the flotilla commander and his staff.

It also looks at how these ships performed in combat with some of the major engagements of WWI covered from the point of view of the destroyers. In each of the class listings, it is noted which of the ships were lost during various engagements and due to enemy action.

It really is an excellent book on a most interesting subject and one that I am positive you will find to be of interest. One that will be pulled from the shelves time after time and one I can highly recommend to you.

October 2009

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