In naval terminology, a Destroyer is a fast and manoeuvrable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range but powerful attackers (originally torpedo boats, later submarines and aircraft).

The early history of the destroyer was for a rather different vessel though, one that was small and very fast, but with a limited effective range; these were the Torpedo Boat Destroyers.

Before World War I, destroyers were light vessels without the endurance for unattended ocean operations; typically a number of destroyers and a single destroyer tender operated together as a destroyer group.

The primary objective of the Torpedo Boat Destroyer was simply to prevent hostile torpedo boats from deploying their weapons against friendly vessels.

The first was the introduction of the steam turbine. The spectacular unauthorised demonstration of the turbine powered Turbinia at the 1897 Spithead Navy Review, which, significantly, was of torpedo boat size, prompted the Royal Navy to order a prototype turbine powered destroyer, HMS Viper of 1899. This was the first turbine warship of any kind and achieved a remarkable 36 knots (67 km/h) on sea trials. By 1910 the turbine had been widely adopted by all navies for their faster ships.

The second development was the replacement of the boat-style turtle-back foredeck (as seen in the lower four photographs here) by a raised forecastle, which provided better sea-keeping as well as more space below deck.