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destroyer

Warship type designed for escort duties against smaller vessels

Also known as DD · torpedo boat destroyer · TBD

Instance of: ship type
2
Sources
1.Stated in Watercraft types
2.Stated in Q87326893
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Subclass of: warship
1
Sources
1.Stated in Q87326893
View statement on Wikidata ↗

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived in the late 19th century as a defence against torpedo boats, and by the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, these "torpedo boat destroyers" (TBDs) were "large, swift, and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other torpedo boats". Although the term "destroyer" had been used interchangeably with "TBD" and "torpedo boat destroyer" by navies since 1892, the term "torpedo boat destroyer" was generally shortened to simply "destroyer" by nearly all navies by the First World War.

Overview

On other databases

38 identifiers linking destroyer across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

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externally sourced

Source last edited September 29, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). destroyer (Q174736). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/destroyer-Q174736