The A-class programme amounted to a large design competition between 1892 and 1895, with a 27-knot requirement and freedom for builders to produce different solutions. It drew on fourteen yards, and even ships from one yard were not necessarily identical. Thornycroft's Ardents, Yarrow's Chargers and Laird's Banshees developed the first six destroyers, while new entrants included J. S. White's Conflict class and the Thames Ironworks' HMS Zebra. Changes in company names also reflected the growth of larger industrial enterprises, with enough orders available for yards to keep competing. By postponing the first-class cruiser programme of 1893-94, the Navy funded 25 destroyers that year and another 11 in 1894-95. These orders gave more yards practical experience and let the Navy compare successive designs. Many of the ships had already been scrapped before the 1913 classification, so the later A-class label needs care when discussing the original programmes.
Chapter · 12:17-19:20
The A-class as industrial research
The 1892-95 design competition spread orders across private yards, with funding diverted from cruisers; many ships had gone before the later A-class classification.