Thornycroft's Shakespeare class answered a requirement for a destroyer leader. Its ancestry remains debated, with one interpretation treating it as an enlarged leader variant of the V and W family. Armament comprised five 4.7-inch Mark I guns, a 12-pounder and two triple 21-inch torpedo mountings. The larger ship accommodated signalling equipment and other leader systems while retaining the fifth main gun. In the photograph under discussion, HMS Shakespeare's fifth main gun sits between the forward funnels and the 3-inch weapon behind the rear funnel. Depth charges provided another capability.
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Shakespeare-class leaders: command space and a fifth gun
Shakespeare-class leaders combined signalling requirements with five main guns and six torpedoes, with a debated connection to enlarged V and W designs.