List of destroyer classes of the Royal Navy - Definition

This is a list of destroyer classes of the Royal Navy.

Royal Navy practice starting from about 1890 (and used seriously from around 1910) has been to allocate class names on an alphabetic basis, with the relevant letters (and in many cases names) being re-used. Sometimes the newer class is known by the name of the first ship completed rather than the letter as an aid to reducing confusion. Since the mid-1960s type numbers have been used instead.

Royal Navy lists

Aircraft carriers

Amphibious assault shipping

Battlecruisers

Battleships

Corvettes and sloops

Cruisers

Destroyers

Escort carriers

Fast patrol boats

Frigates

Minesweepers

Monitors

Submarines

Survey vessels

Fleet bases

Air stations

Aircraft wings

Fleets

Squadrons and flotillas

Pre-World War I and World War I classes

• Havock class — 2 ships, 1893
• Daring class — 2 ships, 1893–1894
• Ardent class — 3 ships, 1894–1895
• Charger class — 3 ships, 1894
• Haughty class — 2 ships, 1895
• Janus class — 3 ships, 1895
• Snapper class — 2 ships, 1895
• Banshee class — 5 ships, 1893–1894
• Fervent class — 2 ships, 1895
• Conflict class — 3 ships, 1894–1895
• Handy class — 3 ships, 1895
• Opossum class — 3 ships, 1895
• Rocket class — 3 ships, 1894
• Sturgeon class — 3 ships, 1894–1895
• Swordfish class — 3 ships, 1895
• Desperate class — 4 ships, 1896
• Quail class — 4 ships, 1895
• Angler class — 2 ships, 1897
• Avon class — 3 ships, 1896–1897
• Earnest class — 6 ships, 1896–1897
• Star class — 6 ships, 1896–1897
• Brazen class — 4 ships, 1896–1898
• Violet class — 2 ships, 1897
• Mermaid class — 2 ships, 1897–1898
• Gypsy class — 3 ships, 1897
• Coquette class — 3 ships, 1897–1898
• Bullfinch class — 3 ships, 1898
• Fawn class — 6 ships, 1897–1899
• Spiteful class — 2 ships, 1899
• Greyhound class — 3 ships, 1900–1901
• Myrmidon class — 2 ships, 1900
• Falcon class — 2 ships, 1899–1900
• Palmer class — 5 ships, 1903–1907
• Tribal class — 13 ships, 1907–1909
• River class — 33 ships, 1903–1905
• Beagle class — 16 ships, 1909–1910
• Acorn class — 20 ships, 1910–1911
• Acheron class — 29 ships, 1910–1915
• Acasta class — 20 ships, 1912–1913
• Laforey class — 22 ships, 1913–1915
• M class — 107 ships, 1914–1916
• Lightfoot class — 7 ships, 1915–1916
• Faulknor class — 4 ships, 1914
• Talisman class — 5 ships, 1914–1916
• Parker class — 6 ships, 1916–1917
• R class — 62 ships, 1916–1918
• S class — 77 ships, 1916–1920
• V and W class — 67 ships, 1916–1919
• Town class — 50 ships from three classes of United States Navy destroyers, 1917–1920

Post-World War I and World War II classes

• A class — 11 ships, 1929–1930
• B class — 9 ships, 1930
• C and D class — 14 ships, 1931–1932
• E and F class — 18 ships, 1934
• G and H class — 24 ships, 1935–1936
• I class — 11 ships, 1936–1937
• Tribal class (1936) — 27 ships, 1936–1944
• J and K class — 16 ships, 1938–1939
• Hunt class — 83 ships (20 Batch I, 33 Batch II, 28 Batch III, 2 Batch IV), 1939–1942
• L and M class — 16 ships, 1939–1942
• N class — 8 ships, 1940–1941
• O and P class — 16 ships, 1941–1942
• Q and R class — 16 ships, 1941–1942
• S and T class — 16 ships, 1942–1943
• U and V class — 16 ships, 1942–1943
• W and Z class — 16 ships, 1943–1944
• C class — 32 ships, 1943–1945
• Battle class — 23 ships (16 Batch I, 7 Batch II), 1943–1946

Post-World War II classes

• Weapon class — 4 ships, 1945–1946
• Daring class — 8 ships, 1949–1952
• County class — 8 ships (4 Batch I, 4 Batch II), 1961–1967
• Type 82 — one ship, 1969
• Type 42 — 14 ships (6 Sheffield, 4 Exeter, 4 Manchester), 1971–1983
• Type 45 — 8 ships, scheduled for commissioning 2007–2014

See also

• List of destroyer classes