In 1913, the surviving units among the large heterogeneous array of older Torpedo Boat Destroyer types of the "27-knotter" and "30-knotter" varieties were organised into the A, B, C and D classes according to their design speed and the number of funnels they possessed. The earlier "26-knotters" were not included as all six vessels had been deleted before 1913.
Unlike the A, B and C classes, all the (two-funnel) D class were built by one shipbuilder (Thornycroft) and comprised a single class, with minor modifications between batches.
In 1913, lettered names were given to all Royal Navy destroyers, previously known after the first ship of that class. The River or E class of 1913 were the first destroyers of the Royal Navy with a recognisable modern configuration.