destroyer

thumb|, the lead ship of the US Navy's Allen M. Sumner class of destroyers, sailing off the coast of Hawaii thumb|, the lead ship of the US Navy's , sailing in formation with USS Independence (rear) thumb|Type 055 destroyer|Type 055 class destroyer of the Chinese [[People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)]] thumb|, the lead ship of Sejong the Great-class destroyer|her class of destroyers of the [[Republic of Korea Navy]] thumb|The Italian , which belongs to the of Franco-Italian designed first-rate frigates 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 conceived in the late 19th century 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" was generally shortened to simply "destroyer" by nearly all navies by the First World War.

Before World War II, destroyers were light vessels with little endurance for unattended ocean operations; typically, a number of destroyers and a single destroyer tender operated together. After the war, destroyers grew in size. The American s (from 1943) had a displacement of 2,200 tons, while the (from 1991) has a displacement of up to 9,600 tons, a difference of nearly 340%. Moreover, the advent of guided missiles allowed destroyers to take on the surface-combatant roles previously filled by battleships and cruisers. This resulted in larger and more powerful guided-missile destroyers more capable of independent operation.