V and W destroyers were built beyond emergency standards

Were V and W destroyers war-emergency ships, and what lessons did they leave?

They were built with postwar service in mind and retained full naval standards. The principal lesson offered is to avoid skimping on weapons or engines.

The V and W classes are judged to have been designed for postwar service as well as immediate wartime use. They differed from emergency designs such as the S class, where rapid construction carried more weight. Ordering a ship under an emergency programme did not necessarily mean abandoning full peacetime naval standards. The enduring lesson offered here is to retain capable weapons and machinery.