Destroyers
The destroyer HMS Achates (i) of the A class. She was lost on 31 Dec 1942.
The destroyer was the most capable and most feared escort vessel the allies possessed early in the war. It was larger and more heavily armed than the destroyer escort and considerably faster. They were also of shallow draught, making it difficult to torpedo them.
The most interesting variant of those were the flush-deckers (or "four-pipers") of WWI vintage that got pulled out of mothballs and 50 of them were sold very expensively to the Royal Navy in 1940. They were ill suited to hunt U-boats due to their age and lack of modern equipment, yet they served all over the North Atlantic.
All Destroyers classes. The list is divided by navy, then ordered by number of ships of that class.
Brazilian Navy | |
| Marcilio Dias (3) | |
| K (1) | |
French Navy | |
| L'Adroit (14) | |
| Bourrasque (12) | |
| Le Hardi (8) | |
Royal Canadian Navy | |
| C (6) | |
Royal Navy | |
| Town (50) | |
| Admiralty V & W (43) | |
| Tribal (27) | |
| Battle (18) | |
| Admiralty Modified W (15) | |
| N (13) | |
| A (11) | |
| Admiralty S (11) | |
| F (11) | |
| I (11) | |
| D (10) | |
| E (10) | |
| G (10) | |
| H (10) | |
| Q (10) | |
| V (10) | |
| B (9) | |
| Ca (8) | |
| Ch (8) | |
| Co (8) | |
| Cr (8) | |
| J (8) | |
| K (8) | |
| L (8) | |
| M (8) | |
| O (8) | |
| P (8) | |
| R (8) | |
| S (8) | |
| T (8) | |
| U (8) | |
| W (8) | |
| Z (8) | |
| Admiralty Leader (6) | |
| Havant (6) | |
| Shakespeare (3) | |
| Prototype (2) | |
| Admiralty R (1) | |
Royal Dutch Navy | |
| Admiralen (8) | |
| Gerard Callenburgh (4) | |
Royal Norwegian Navy | |
| Sleipner (6) | |
Italian Navy | |
| Soldati (1st series) (4) | |
| Oriani (3) | |
| Soldati (2nd series) (3) | |
| Carlo Mirabello (1) | |
| Maestrale (1) | |
| Navigatori (1) | |
| Turbine (1) | |
Polish Navy | |
| Grom (2) | |
| Wicher (2) | |
Royal Hellenic Navy | |
| Aetos (4) | |
| Kondouriotis (4) | |
| Vasilefs Georgios (2) | |
US Navy | |
| Fletcher (175) | |
| Gearing (98) | |
| Clemson (88) | |
| Wickes (79) | |
| Bristol (72) | |
| Allen M. Sumner (70) | |
| Benson / Gleaves (24) | |
| Mahan (18) | |
| Sims (12) | |
| Benham (10) | |
| Bagley (8) | |
| Farragut (8) | |
| Porter (8) | |
| Somers (5) | |
| Caldwell (4) | |
| Gridley (4) | |
| Sampson (1) | |
Soviet Navy | |
| Project 7 (28) | |
| Project 7u (18) | |
| Novik (17) | |
| Marashti (2) | |
| Regele Ferdinand (2) | |
| Project 30 (1) | |
Please note that we list the classes by navies that initiated/owned the class. Often vessels of certain classes were then built for other nations (or lent), that is not visible here but only through the navies pages or by looking into each class.
War losses: Destroyers
277 Destroyers lost. See all Allied Warship losses.
 The last stand of the tin can sailors Hornfischer, James D. |
Books dealing with this subject include:
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