The Fubuki-class destroyers were a class of twenty-four destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Fubuki class has been described as the world's first modern destroyer. The Fubuki class set a new standard not only for Japanese vessels, but for destroyers around the world. They remained formidable opponents to the end of World War II, despite being much older than many of their adversaries.
Fubuki (1936)
Destroyers Sagiri, Amagiri and Asagiri of the Type II of the "Fubuki"-class in exercises. The picture was taken from the Yugiri on October 16, 1941.
Office of Naval Intelligence recognition drawing of the Fubuki class
Eight Fubuki-class ships sailing. On the left is possibly Hibiki; the rest are unknown.
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, 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 originally conceived in 1885 by Fernando Villaamil for the Spanish Navy as a defense 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" had been generally shortened to simply "destroyer" by nearly all navies by the First World War.
USS Arleigh Burke, the lead ship of her class of guided-missile destroyers.
The destroyers of the US Navy's Zumwalt-class, pictured here sailing with a Littoral combat ship (LCS) are the longest and heaviest destroyers currently in service.
The Italian Caio Duilio, belongs to the Horizon-class of Franco-Italian designed first-rate frigates.
Fernando Villaamil, credited as the inventor of the destroyer concept, died in action during the Battle of Santiago de Cuba in 1898.
