The Bainbridge label covers a related group rather than thirteen identical destroyers. Individual ships differed in forecastles and turtle decks, boiler installations, funnel arrangements, and single or twin torpedo tubes. Hopkins and Hull, for example, had turtle decks forward. Nominal displacement was 427 tons normally and 640 tons fully loaded, with a design speed of 29 knots, although displacement and performance varied considerably. A quoted 29.7-knot trial took place in a very light condition. The common armament centered on 3-inch and 6-pounder guns with 18-inch torpedo tubes and multiple reloads. The order gave the Navy immediate destroyer numbers, though early mass procurement had not yet produced a standardized design.
Chapter · 6:52-9:23
Bainbridge-class variations complicate the first mass order
The thirteen Bainbridge-class ships provided immediate numbers, but different hull forms, boilers, funnels, and torpedo arrangements made them less uniform than the class label suggests.