The next design shows German influence, compared with the British ideas visible in Ukrainets. A hull of more than 600 tons carried two 75 mm guns, six 57 mm guns, four 7.62 mm machine guns, and three 17.7-inch torpedo tubes. The example given was laid down in 1904 and launched that December, yet did not enter service until 1906. Such ships would have supplied useful destroyer capability at Tsushima if they could have been made ready in time. The suggestion that someone deliberately kept valuable new ships back from a voyage expected to end in defeat remains speculative. Their gun armament and speed later made them useful in World War I.
Notable Point · 17:08-19:59
German-influenced destroyers missed Tsushima
German design influence produced heavily armed destroyers, while late completion and a speculative decision to hold ships back frame their absence at Tsushima.