Admiralty M-class capabilities and rapid production

The first six M-class ships had been ordered before the war, allowing Britain to expand an existing design without waiting for an entirely new ship. Hawthorn, Yarrow and Thornycroft variants had broadly comparable capabilities despite differences between builders. The approximate specifications are 34 knots, 3,710 nautical miles at 15 knots, a crew of 80 and 1,100 tons at full load. Armament comprised three 4-inch guns, usually two pom-poms and four 21-inch torpedo tubes in two twin mounts. The concern about ungalvanized steel is its effect on the ships' useful life after the war. The class accounts for 99 of the 325 destroyers under consideration, with construction beginning in 1914 and the ships built by 1916. It formed the first large addition to an already substantial destroyer force.