This type of vessel was rapidly replaced by the faster torpedo boat destroyer, and all of the class were converted to minesweepers during World War I, with the exception of Hazard, which became a submarine depot ship.

Ordered under the Naval Defence Act of 1889, which established the "Two-Power Standard", the ships were contemporary with the first torpedo boat destroyers, a type which subsequently superseded the torpedo gunboats.

With a length overall of 262 ft 6 in (80.01 m),[1] a beam of 30 ft 6 in (9.30 m)[1] and a displacement of 1,070 tons,[1] these torpedo gunboats were not small ships by the standard of the time; they were larger than the majority of World War I destroyers.

They were equipped with two sets of vertical triple-expansion steam engines, with two locomotive-type boilers, driving through twin screws.

This layout produced 3,500 indicated horsepower (2,600 kW) giving them a speed of 18.2 knots (33.7 km/h); Halcyon was uprated to produce 6000 ihp, giving her a speed of approximately 20 knots (37 km/h).