initial five V-class ships ordered in April 1916 and were designed and built as flotilla leaders. These ships were necessary as the 36 knot speed of the new S class meant that existing flotilla leaders would no longer be able to keep pace with their charges. To speed construction time, these new vessels were based on the three-boiler, two-funnel machinery of the R class and as they were inevitably larger, a slight decrease in speed was accepted. The fore funnel was tall and narrow and the after one was shorter and wider. They differed from the later Admiralty and the Thornycroft V classes in that they had a larger bridge structure, taller foremast, mainmast mounted further aft to accommodate an enlarged spread of wireless aerials, extra boats abreast the after funnel and the searchlight platform between the torpedo tubes was enlarged to accommodate an extra compass. Vampire trialled triple mounts for her torpedoes and as a result had a total of six tubes. Ships Valentine – built by Cammell Laird & Company, Birkenhead, laid down 8 August 1916, launched 24 March 1917, completed 27 June 1917, damaged by German aircraft, beached and abandoned off Terneuzen 15 May 1940, salvaged 1953 and broken up. Valhalla – built by Cammell Laird, laid down 8 August 1916, launched 22 May 1917, completed 31 July 1917, sold for breaking up 17 December 1931. Valkyrie – built by William Denny & Brothers Limited, Dumbarton, laid down 25 May 1916, launched 12 March 1917, completed 16 June 1917, sold for breaking up 24 August 1936. – built by Denny, laid down 25 May 1916, launched 5 August 1917, completed 21 August 1917, sold for breaking up 4 March 1947. Vampire – built by J. Samuel White & Company, Cowes, laid down 10 October 1916, launched 21 May 1917, completed 22 September 1917, transferred to Royal Australian Navy in October 1933, bombed and sunk by Japanese aircraft in the Bay of Bengal 9 April 1942. Admiralty V class The 23 vessels comprising the Admiralty V class were ordered in July 1916 under the 9th War Programme as repeats of the Admiralty V-class leaders (ordered three months earlier) to counter the threat posed by reports of a new class of powerful German destroyers (see ). They omitted the flotilla leader function and as such differed in detail from the leader predecessor. While all 23 ships were completed with