Editing Destroyer (section)

==Early use and World War I==
Navies originally built TBDrs to protect against torpedo boats, but admirals soon appreciated the flexibility of the fast, multipurpose vessels that resulted. Vice-Admiral Sir [[Baldwin Walker]] laid down destroyer duties for the Royal Navy:<ref>Brett, Bernard: "History of World Sea Power", Deans International (London) 1985. {{ISBN|0-603-03723-2}}</ref>
* Screening the advance of a fleet when hostile torpedo craft are about
* Searching a hostile coast along which a fleet might pass
* Watching an enemy's port for the purpose of harassing his torpedo craft and preventing their return
* Attacking an enemy fleet

Early destroyers were extremely cramped places to live, being "without a doubt magnificent fighting vessels... but unable to stand bad weather".<ref>Grant p. 136</ref> During the [[Russo-Japanese War]] in 1904, the commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy TBD ''Akatsuki''<ref>Grant, image, frontispiece</ref><ref>Lyon p. 58</ref><ref>Jentschura p. 132 <!-- (''Akatsuki'' built by ''Yarrow & Co.'' in 1902; 224' long, displaced 415 tons, two 18", two 3" guns, four 57&nbsp;mm Quick Firing Guns, complement 60 officers/men. Sunk by mine at ''Port Arthur'' on 17 May 1904) --></ref> described "being in command of a destroyer for a long period, especially in wartime... is not very good for the health". Stating that he had originally been strong and healthy, he continued, "life on a destroyer in winter, with bad food, no comforts, would sap the powers of the strongest men in the long run. A ''destroyer'' is always more uncomfortable than the others, and rain, snow, and ''sea-water'' combine to make them damp; in fact, in bad weather, there is not a dry spot where one can rest for a moment."<ref name="Grant">Grant p. 102, 103</ref>

The Japanese destroyer-commander finished with, "Yesterday, I looked at myself in a mirror for a long time; I was disagreeably surprised to see my face thin, full of wrinkles, and as old as though I were 50. My clothes (uniform) cover nothing but a skeleton, and my bones are full of [[rheumatism]]."<ref name="Grant" />

In 1898, the US Navy officially classified {{USS|Porter|TB-6|6}}, a {{convert|175|ft|m|adj=on}} long all steel vessel displacing 165 tons, as a torpedo boat, but her commander, LT. John C. Fremont, described her as "...a compact mass of machinery not meant to keep the sea nor to live in... as five-sevenths of the ship are taken up by machinery and fuel, whilst the remaining two-sevenths, fore and aft, are the crew's quarters; officers forward and the men placed aft. And even in those spaces are placed anchor engines, steering engines, steam pipes, etc. rendering them unbearably hot in tropical regions."<ref>Simpson p. 100</ref>

===Early combat===
[[File:HMS Loyal (1913) IWM SP 001136.jpg|thumb|{{HMS|Loyal|1913|6}}, of the {{sclass|Laforey|destroyer (1913)|4}}]]
The TBD's first major use in combat came during the [[Battle of Port Arthur|Japanese surprise attack on the Russian fleet]] anchored in [[Lüshunkou District|Port Arthur]] at the opening of the [[Russo-Japanese War]] on 8 February 1904.

Three destroyer divisions attacked the Russian fleet in port, firing a total of 18 torpedoes, but only two Russian battleships, {{ship|Russian battleship|Tsesarevich||2}} and {{ship|Russian battleship|Retvizan||2}}, and a [[protected cruiser]], {{ship|Russian cruiser|Pallada|1899|2}}, were seriously damaged due to the proper deployment of [[torpedo net]]s. ''Tsesarevich'', the Russian flagship, had her nets deployed, with at least four enemy torpedoes "hung up" in them,<ref>Grant p. 42</ref> and other warships were similarly saved from further damage by their nets.<ref>Grant p. 33, 34, 40</ref>

While capital-ship engagements were scarce in World War I, destroyer units engaged almost continually in raiding and patrol actions. The first shot of the war at sea was fired on 5 August 1914 by {{HMS|Lance|1914|6}}, one of the [[3rd Destroyer Flotilla]], in an engagement with the German auxiliary [[minelayer]] {{SS|Königin Luise|1913|2}}.<ref>The ''Königin Luise'' was abandoned and scuttled by her crew, but the British patrol later passed through the area she had mined and a cruiser was damaged and abandoned.</ref>

Destroyers were involved in the skirmishes that prompted the [[Battle of Heligoland (1914)|Battle of Heligoland Bight]], and filled a range of roles in the [[Battle of Gallipoli]], acting as troop transports and as fire-support vessels, as well as their fleet-screening role. Over 80 British destroyers and 60 German torpedo boats took part in the [[Battle of Jutland]], which involved pitched small-boat actions between the main fleets, and several foolhardy attacks by unsupported destroyers on capital ships. Jutland also concluded with a messy night action between the German [[High Seas Fleet]] and part of the British destroyer screen.

[[File:Wickes dd75.jpg|thumb|left|{{USS|Wickes|DD-75|6}}, a {{sclass|Wickes|destroyer|2}}]]
The threat evolved by World War I with the development of the [[submarine]], or [[U-boat]]. The submarine had the potential to hide from gunfire and close underwater to fire torpedoes. Early-war destroyers had the speed and armament to intercept submarines before they submerged, either by gunfire or by ramming. Destroyers also had a shallow enough draft that they were difficult to hit with torpedoes.

[[File:HMS Badger (1911).jpg|thumb|{{HMS|Badger|1911|6}} was the first destroyer to successfully ram a submarine.]]
The desire to attack submarines under water led to rapid destroyer evolution during the war. They were quickly equipped with strengthened bows for ramming, and [[depth charge]]s and [[hydrophone]]s for identifying submarine targets. The first submarine casualty credited to a destroyer was the German {{SMU|U-19|Germany|2}}, rammed by {{HMS|Badger|1911|6}} on 29 October 1914. While ''U-19'' was only damaged, the next month, {{HMS|Garry}} successfully sank {{SMU|U-18|Germany|2}}. The first depth-charge sinking was on 4 December 1916, when {{SMU|UC-19|3=2}}<ref>{{cite book|publisher = Naval Institute Press |title = U-boats Destroyed: German Submarine Losses in the World Wars|first= Paul|last = Kemp |date =1997|isbn = 9781557508591}}</ref> was sunk by HMS ''Llewellyn''.

The submarine threat meant that many destroyers spent their time on antisubmarine patrol. Once Germany adopted [[unrestricted submarine warfare]] in January 1917, destroyers were called on to escort merchant [[convoy]]s. US Navy destroyers were among the first American units to be dispatched upon the American entry to the war, and a squadron of Japanese destroyers even joined Allied patrols in the Mediterranean. Patrol duty was far from safe; of the 67 British destroyers lost in the war, collisions accounted for 18, while 12 were wrecked.

At the end of the war, the state-of-the-art was represented by the British [[V and W-class destroyer|W class]].