V and W-class destroyer

HMS Veteran, an Admiralty modified W ship, a model at the Glasgow Museum of Transport
Class overview
Name:	V and W
Operators:	Royal Navy  Royal Australian Navy
Preceded by:	S class Parker class
Succeeded by:	Admiralty type destroyer leader
Subclasses:	Admiralty V class leader Admiralty V class Admiralty W class Thornycroft V and W class Thornycroft modified W class Admiralty modified W class
Built:	1916–24
In service:	1917–45
Completed:	67
Cancelled:	40
General characteristics (see below)
Type:	Destroyer

HMAS Waterhen (D22)
General characteristics (Admiralty W class)
Displacement:	1,100 tons
Draught:	9 ft standard, 11 ft 3 in deep
Propulsion:	3 Yarrow type Water-tube boilers (White-Forster type in Winchelsea, Winchester), Brown-Curtis steam turbines (Parsons in Waterhen, Wrestler, Wryneck), 2 shafts, 27,000 shp
Complement:	110
Armament:	4 × QF 4 in Mk.V (102mm L/45) guns 2 × QF 2 pdr Mk.II "pom-pom" (40 mm L/39) anti-aircraft guns or; 1 × QF 3 inch 20 cwt anti-aircraft gun 6 (2x3) tubes for 21-inch (530 mm) torpedoes
Notes:	Other characteristics as per Admiralty V leader

S class

The V and W class was an amalgam of six similar classes of destroyer built for the Royal Navy under the War Emergency Programme during the First World War and generally treated as one class. For their time they were among the most powerful and advanced ships of their type in the world, and set the trend for future British designs.

They arrived in time to see service in the First World War. During the interwar period these ships formed the backbone of the Royal Navy's destroyer flotillas until gradually replaced by new construction; by the mid-1930s most had been displaced to the reserve fleet. Most ships survived to make an extensive contribution to the Second World War effort, in the vital role of convoy escort, freeing up more modern ships for fleet action.

The V and W class were the ultimate evolution of British destroyer design in the First World War, embodying the improvements of their predecessors as well as new technological advances. Their lineage can be traced to the River or E class of 1902 that had introduced the classic raised forecastle into the Royal Navy. The Tribal class of 1905 introduced oil-firing and the resultant economies in size, consumption and crew. The Parker class leader of 1915 had introduced a raised shelter deck forwards, allowing two guns to be carried in the classic superfiring (i.e. one gun fires over the top of the one below and in front of it) "A" and "B" positions. The Yarrow Later M class, also of 1915, introduced a three-boiler, two-funnel layout allowing for a more compact hull and giving increased deckspace and the R class introduced geared turbines giving 30,000 shp on two shafts.