Inventor of destroyer
 

My son picked for his 3rd grade project, (inventors and there invention) the destroyer and its inventor. Was there anyone that was attrubited with the concept of the destroyer, I belive it purpose was to combat small torpedo boats that could sink a capitol ship, but I need a name and some history if possible. Thanks, Randy.

RE: Inventor of destroyer
 

There is a pretty decent starting point for his research here: [link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destroyer]en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destroyer[/link]


Cheers,

Wreno

RE: Inventor of destroyer
 

I doubt the hull class that is called a destroyer can be attributed to any one person who invented it. It really would be best described as a gunboat that has eventually evolved to the hull class that we now call destroyers.

RE: Inventor of destroyer
 

Wreno, I found the answer on your site, a spanish navy officer was asked to develope an anti torpedo boat ship, after a big advancement in m.t.b.s. It was supposed to be the first ship designed from the ground up, just for this purpose, it's name translated in spanish means, destroyer. I would have to think other people were working on simuliar projects at the time, and it might not qualify as an invention, but my 9 year old has a model of the USS Fletcher, and wanted to use it, Thanks, Randy.

RE: Inventor of destroyer
 

Close enough, Randy.
The Italian navy did indeed make some of the first fast speed boats with torpedos on them. They were merceless on their enimies. They were Destroyers also.
Destroyers were the PTB's AND the boats built to run down and destroy the PTB's. ??? yes.

Modern, WW I and newer? Pick any thing named a destroyer class. You would be right.

RE: Inventor of destroyer
 

Randy,

A clarification - I had nothing to do with the site I linked for you, in case you thought I did. I just happened across it. However, I am glad it was helpful.

However, if your son is interested in ships (or you are), you might want to know a bit more about RC Model Warship Combat (after all you are on this thread). One club with several links, how-to's, etc. is the [link=http://www.ntxbg.org]www.ntxbg.org[/link]. There is an article from Servo Magazine in the "NTXBG In the News) section that gives a pretty decent overview (I did write that). There are also links to other clubs, etc.

A fun story- when my son got started (7th or 8th grade?) he was driving the Graf Spee (a club ship). This peaked his interest, and he read up on her and watched TV specials, etc. When the class started to discuss WWII in World History, he asked if they were "going to cover the Battle of the River Plate?" The teacher asked him "Which battle was that?" And he replied, "the naval battle at Montevideo, involving Captain Hans Langsdorf and the Graf Spee at the start of the war." She wanted him to refresh her memory. He proceeded - using up the rest of the class. One of his classmates was quietly chuckling to himself (he had been to a battle and knew what was going on (that Wes was basically talking about his hobby), but the results were: 1) the rest of the class (and the teacher) learned something about WWII they would not otherwise have covered, 2) Wes had a much more fun hour of class, and 3) he got an A in that class.... :)

Anyone not knowing about the first major naval engagement of WWII, being in the waters of South Amerca, there is an article here: [link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_River_Plate]en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_River_Plate[/link] In view of the recent movie Valkyrie, the story of Captain Hans Langsdorf should also be remembered.

It is a pretty decent father/son activity (in fact, my son got me started, and we had 4 father/son teams at the last NABGO (North American Big Gun Open) , as I recall

Cheers,

Wreno

RE: Inventor of destroyer
 

Hehe that reminds me of the time I taught my high school history class about WWI and WWII. The teacher covered the political developments important for the test, and I got to cover the major battles, technological advancements, and other major military developments during both wars. That was fun...

hansvonpensch, if your son has time in his presentation, he might want to cover some of the other major developments that led to the invention of the destroyer, such as the whitehead torpedo and the Parsons steam turbine. Of course, don't do it if he doesn't have enough time to properly explain them.