Imperial Russian ship lists contain many vessels built as torpedo boats and later reclassified as destroyers. A new name did not give them the ability to perform destroyer duties: a vessel dominated by torpedoes and carrying only a couple of guns remained a torpedo boat. Russia had a strong reason to want destroyers because its geographically separated fleets had little prospect of mutual support. During the Russo-Japanese War, the supporting fleet arrived after the original fleet had already ceased to be an effective fighting force.
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Russian destroyer labels versus actual roles
Russia needed destroyers for fleets with little prospect of mutual support, while later reclassifications overstated the capability of its torpedo boats.