Three Rocket class destroyers served with the Royal Navy. HMS Rocket, HMS Shark and HMS Surly were launched at Clydebank in 1894. The ships displaced 280 tons, were 200 feet long and their Normand boilers produced 4,100 H.P. to give a top speed of 27 knots. They were armed with one twelve pounder and two torpedo tubes. They carried a complement of 53 officers and men.