The War Emergency Programme destroyers were destroyers built for the British Royal Navy during World War I and World War II.
World War I emergency programmes The 323 destroyers ordered during the First World War belonged to several different classes and were the subject of 14 separate War Programmes between 1914 and 1918. 40 of these were cancelled at the end of the war. The total excludes destroyers building in UK for other navies which were purchased for the Royal Navy following the outbreak of war.
ProgrammeDateorderedDesignNo ofshipsNotes1st War Programme 10 September 1914Admiralty M-class design 16 Six more had been built under pre-war 1913-14 Programme September 1914.Yarrow M-class design 4 Three more had been built under pre-war 1913-14 Programme2nd War Programme early November 1914Admiralty M-class design 9 Yarrow M-class design 1 Nerissa Admiralty L-class design 2 Lochinvar and Lassoo3rd War Programme late November 1914Admiralty M-class design 22 4th War Programme February 1915Admiralty M-class design 16 including 8 of "Repeat M-class" with raking stems Thornycroft M-class design 2 2 others had been built under pre-war 1913-14 Programme5th War Programme May 1915Admiralty M-class design 16 Thornycroft M-class design 2 Rapid and Ready Yarrow M-class design 2 Relentless and Rival Admiralty R-class design 2 Radstock and Raider6th War Programme July 1915Admiralty R-class design 17 Thornycroft R-class design 3 Rosalind, Radiant and Retriever Yarrow R-class design 4 Sabrina, Strongbow, Surprise and Sybille7th War Programme December 1915 Admiralty R-class design 8 Thornycroft R-class design 2 Taurus and Teazer8th War Programme 5 March 1916Admiralty R-class design 12 Yarrow R-class design 3 Truculent, Tyrant and Ulleswater Admiralty Modified R-class design 11 last 5 actually ordered on 19 April 19169th War Programme July 1916 23 Admiralty V-class design 23 Vortigern and Vectis were ordered in August 1916 August 1916 Thornycroft V-class design 2 Viceroy and Viscount10th War Programme 9 December 1916 Admiralty W-class design 19 Thornycroft W-class design 2 Wolsey and Woolston11th War Programme 9 April 1917 Admiralty S-class design 24 Thornycroft S-class design 2 Speedy and Tobago Yarrow S-class design 7 12th War Programme June 1917Admiralty S-class design 33 2 of which were cancelled in 1919 Thornycroft S-class design 3 Torbay, Toreador and Tourmaline13th War Programme January 1918 Admiralty Modified W-class design 14 7 of which were cancelled in 1919 Thornycroft Modified W-class design 2 Wishart and Witch14th War Programme April 1918 Admiralty Modified W-class design 38 31 of which were cancelled in late 1918 or 1919)
World War II emergency programme The 112 destroyers built during the Second World War were based on the hull and machinery of the earlier J-, K- and N-class destroyers of the 1930s. Each of the fourteen flotillas produced consisted of eight destroyers. Due to supply problems and the persistent failure by the Royal Navy to develop a suitable dual-purpose weapon for destroyers, they were fitted with whatever armament was available. Advances in radar and weaponry were incorporated as they came available. As a result, they were a relatively heterogeneous class incorporating many wartime advances, but ultimately based on a hull that was too small and with an armament too light to be true first-rate vessels equivalent of their contemporaries. As such they are often described as "utility" destroyers. It was not until the of 1944 that the Royal Navy returned to building larger destroyers. Many vessels were transferred to friendly navies.
ClassFlotillaDate orderedO class 1st Emergency Flotilla 3 September 1939P class 2nd Emergency Flotilla 2 October 1939Q class 3rd Emergency Flotilla end March 1940R class 4th Emergency Flotilla early April 1940S class 5th Emergency Flotilla 9 January 1941T class 6th Emergency Flotilla March 1941U class 7th Emergency Flotilla 12 June 1941V class 8th Emergency Flotilla 1 September 1941W class 9th Emergency Flotilla 3 December 1941Z class 10th Emergency Flotilla 12 February 1942Ca- class 11th Emergency Flotilla 16 February 1942Ch- class 12th Emergency Flotilla 24 July 1942Co- class 13th Emergency Flotilla 24 July 1942Cr- class 14th Emergency Flotilla 12 September 1942 The 15th Emergency Flotilla, which would have had ships with names starting with Ce, was cancelled in favour of building the Weapon-class destroyers. The two ships being built, Centaur and Celt, became Tomahawk and Sword.
Design changes The P, and 3 ships of the O, flotilla were fitted with 4-inch guns with a new design of tall gunshield. As a result, they carried only the Rangefinder-Director Mark II(W) for fire control. From the Q and R class onwards a transom stern was incorporated. From the S and T class onwards the bow was revised to a design based on that of the , to improve sea-keeping. From the Q and R class the main gun calibre returned to 4.7 inches. From the R flotilla onwards the officer's accommodation was forwards, instead of aft as was traditional Royal Navy practice The S flotilla altered the position of the searchlight between the torpedo tubes with the medium anti-aircraft position abaft the funnel. This more logical arrangement gave the anti-aircraft gun improved arcs of fire in the forward field. The S class introduced the new mounting CP Mark XXII for the 4.7-inch guns. This could readily be distinguished from the older mounting CP Mark XVIII of the O, Q and R by its sharply raked face, allowing increased elevation. S-class incorporated the new 4.5-inch gun Mark III, in a prototype twin dual-purpose turret BD Mark IV forward and 4.5-inch gun Mark IV in single mountings CP Mark V aft. The former would be introduced in the Battle-class destroyer. The T flotilla introduced the lattice foremast, to support the ever-increasing weight of masthead electronics. The W flotilla introduced the dual-purpose Director Mark III(W), replacing the low-angle Destroyer DCT and High-Angle Rangefinder-Director Mark II(W) in use since the Q and R class. The Z flotilla introduced the new dual-purpose Director Mark I Type K and the 4.5-inch gun in single mountings CP Mark V as trialled in Savage. These mountings were based on the CP Mark XXII used in the later 4.7-inch gunned ships; there was no obvious difference. The Ch- flotilla introduced the dual-purpose Director Mark VI with full remote-power control (RPC) for gunlaying. One set of torpedo tubes was removed to counter the increased topweight. All ships used the Fuze Keeping Clock High Angle Fire Control Computer.Destroyer Weapons of WW2, Hodges/Friedman,
See also Type 15 frigate: postwar full conversion of Wartime Emergency Programme destroyers into first-rate fast anti-submarine frigates Type 16 frigate: postwar partial conversion of Wartime Emergency Programme destroyers into second-rate fast anti-submarine frigates
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