British leaders of the First World War. The largest destroyers of the Royal Fleet

On the eve of the First World War, the British created a new subclass of torpedo-artillery ships-“Leader”. Back in 1907, the first “big destroyer” (aka “Babiscout”) “Swift”, built on the initiative of the First Sea Lord John Fischer, appeared as part of the fleet of His Majesty. According to the famous “Father of the Dreadnought”, such ships should have replaced the destroyers and light cruisers-scouts, taking on a solution to a wide range of tasks: to act together with linear squads, without connecting them with a lack of seaworthiness and speed, conduct close intelligence, protect the main forces from the main forces enemy destroyers and bring their destroyers into a torpedo attack. 10 leaders managed to build 10 leaders to the Jutland battle. If the night radiogram of the Folknor leader about the true position of the Kaiser Fleet reached the commander of the Grand Flit, then the decisive battle would end not a draw, but a real defeat of the Germans (in addition, during the battle, “Folknor” with his fleet of destroyers sank the battleship “Pommern ) Already during the war, the leaders of the Shakespeare and Scott series were developed and built, which were highly speed and had five 120-mm guns in service. According to their characteristics, these ships became the best leaders of the First World War, having a huge impact on the development of the entire class as a whole.
The new book of the leading historian of the fleet in all details restores the line of development of leaders of the destroyers of the Royal Fleet of the First World War. The publication is illustrated by exclusive drawings, schemes and photographs