Rocket-class destroyer

Three Rocket-class destroyers served with the Royal Navy.

Under the 1893–1894 Naval Estimates, the British Admiralty placed orders for 36 torpedo-boat destroyers, all to be capable of 27 kn, the "27-knotters", as a follow-on to the six prototype "26-knotters" ordered in the previous 1892–1893 Estimates. As was typical for torpedo craft at the time, the Admiralty left detailed design to the builders, laying down only broad requirements.

HMS Rocket (1894), HMS Shark (1894) and HMS Surly (1894) were built by J & G Thomson and launched at Clydebank in 1894. The ships displaced 280 tons, were 200 ft long and their Normand boilers produced 4,100 hp. to give a top speed of 27 kn. They were armed with one 12-pounder and two torpedo tubes. They carried a complement of 53 officers and men.

In September 1913 the Admiralty re-classed all the surviving 27-knotter destroyers as A Class although this only applied to Surly as the other two ships had been sold for scrap in 1912.