The First Destroyers by David Lyon , Chatham 1996, 128pp, ISBN: 1-55750-271-4, £30

Those were the days when you could buy a state-of-the-art Destroyer ready for action for the price of a medium-sized yacht today'. This volume covers the earliest Destroyers, the now familiar abbreviation for Torpedo Boat Destroyers, which were built for speed above all. A follow-on volume is promised covering sturdier vessels, e.g. the "Rivers" class, built from about 1903 when it seems to have been recognised that high speed was not necessarily the most important design feature. Up to that time, however, the quest for speed among the advanced nations had something of the glamour later to be associated with the Schneider Trophy for aircraft. Britain then led the world. David Lyon tells this story well, and illustrates it with fascinating photographs, drawings and anecdotes. Stokers and the coal they shovelled were both hand-picked for the speed trials. Life aboard was so uncomfortable that the Admiralty eventually agreed to pay "hard lying money" to these elite crews. It must have been really bad! DWB.

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