In 1913 the nine surviving "30 knotter" vessels with two funnels (all ten had been built by Thornycroft, but Ariel was lost before their renaming as D class) were retrospectively classified by the Admiralty as the D class to provide some system to the naming of HM destroyers. In the same way those with three funnels were classified as the C-class and those with four funnels as the B-class. All these vessels had a distinctive "turtleback" forecastle that was intended to clear water from the bow, but actually tended to dig the bow in to anything of a sea, resulting in a very wet conning position. They were better constructed than their A-class forebears (the "26 knotter" and "27 knotter" groups), but still were poor seaboats unable to reach top speed in anything but perfect conditions.
They generally displaced 355 to 370 tons and had a length of 210feet. All were powered by triple expansion steam engines for 5700ihp and had coal-fired water-tube boilers, except for the final vessel (Stag) in which the engine power was slightly raised to 5800ihp. Armament was one QF 12-pounder gun on a bandstand on the forecastle, five QF 6-pounder guns (two sided abreast the conning tower, two sided between the funnels and one on the quarterdeck) and two single tubes for 18-inch (450 mm) torpedoes.
Due to the successful development of their previous 26 and 27-knot torpedo boat destroyers, John I Thornycroft & Company developed their two funnel design for the 1894/1895 – 1897/1898 building programs. The ships were considered an incremental improvement to the previous 27-knot design of the 1893/94 program. This design would be used for all follow-on turtleback ships under the 30-knot specification. The 30-knot torpedo boat destroyers built by Thornycroft were referred to as two funnel – 30-knot ships and were not assigned a class name at the time.[1]
They featured a large fore-bridge, mast halfway between bridge and fore funnel, turtleback cut-away bow, large round stern, both torpedo tubes on centerline aft of second funnel and two funnels. They had a Thornycroft stern with the rudder not visible. They had dual rudders which made them very responsive to the helm.[2] [3]
All ten of the D class were built by Thornycroft at Chiswick, in four batches.
| Name | Yard number | Laid down | Launched | Trials [5] | Completed | Fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desperate | 305 | 1 Jul 1895 | 15 Feb 1896 | 26 Jun 1896 (a) | Feb 1897 | Sold for scrap 20 May 1920, to Thos. W. Ward, Milford Haven | |
| Fame | 306 | 4 Jul 1895 | 15 Apr 1896 | 15 Apr 1897 | Jun 1897 | Sold for scrap 31 August 1921, at Hong Kong. | |
| Foam | 307 | 16 Jul 1895 | 8 Oct 1896 | 7 May 1897 | Jul 1897 | Sold for scrap 26 May 1914, at Chatham | |
| Mallard | 308 | 13 Sep 1895 | 19 Nov 1896 | 17 Sep 1897 | Oct 1897 | Sold for scrap 10 February 1920, to South Alloa Shipbreaking Co. | |
| Angler | 313 | 21 Dec 1896 | 2 Feb 1897 | 27 May 1898 3 Jun 1898 | Jul 1898 | Sold for scrap 20 May 1920, to Thos. W. Ward, Milford Haven | |
| 314 | 23 Apr 1896 | 5 Mar 1897 | 7 Aug 1898 17 Aug 1898 | Oct 1898 | Wrecked at Malta 19 April 1907 | ||
| Coquette | 319 | 8 Jun 1896 | 25 Nov 1897 | 27 Jul 1899 20 Dec 1898 | Jan 1899 | Mined and sunk in the North Sea, 7 March 1916 | |
| Cygnet | 320 | 25 Sep 1896 | 3 Sep 1898 | 5 May 1899 | Feb 1900 | Sold for scrap 29 April 1920, to Thos. W. Ward, Rainham | |
| Cynthia | 321 | 16 Jul 1896 | 8 Jan 1898 | 26 Oct 1899 | Jun 1899 | Sold for scrap 29 April 1920, to Thos. W. Ward, Rainham | |
| Stag | 334 | 16 Apr 1898 | 18 Nov 1899 | 19 Jun 1900 | Sep 1900 | Sold for scrap 17 March 1921, to Thos. W. Ward, Grays |
Notes: (a) Desperate had a final run over the measured mile on 4 September 1896. Altogether, this vessel completed nine successive preliminary trials.