During the interwar period these ships formed the backbone of the Royal Navy's destroyer flotillas until gradually replaced by new construction; by the mid-1930s most had been displaced to the reserve fleet.

The V and W class were the ultimate evolution of British destroyer design in the First World War, embodying the improvements of their predecessors as well as new technological advances.

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.

Vanquisher, Vanoc, Velox, Vehement, Venturous, Versatile, Vimiera, Vittoria and Vortigern were built with the ability to be converted into minelayers within 24 hours.

For this purpose they would land their torpedo tubes and "Y" gun on the quarterdeck and have screens fitted to protect the mines, of which up to sixty could be carried.

Their conversions were non-standard in that they carried a pair of QF 2 pdr Mark VIII guns on platforms amidships – en echelon in Woolston only – and that Viceroy retained a bank of torpedoes for some time.

Like the Admiralty modified ships, the Thornycrofts were up-gunned with the BL 4.7 inch Mark I weapon, and they received triple banks of torpedo tubes from the outset.

The two batches of orders placed in 1918 introduced the new BL 4.7 inch Mark I gun, as well as providing triple torpedo tubes as standard.

The onset of the Second World War put a stop to lengthy conversions, but many ships were converted for convoy escort duty.

The V and W class were designed to support the Grand Fleet in its actions in the North Sea, for which they were required to make fairly short, high speed dashes.

Thus, they were unsuitable for the Mid-Ocean Escort Force role to which they found themselves allocated in the Second World War, where speeds over 20 knots were of limited value (as ASDIC rapidly lost efficiency) and endurance was desirable over firepower.

The small, single-unit boiler room was struck and the resulting space divided into fuel tanks (lower) and accommodation (upper).

Converted long-range escorts were (in order of date): The WAIR type conversion supplemented the construction of Hunt and Black Swan-class escorts with their emphasis on anti-aircraft capabilities for east coast service (the exact meaning of 'WAIR' has fallen into obscurity; it is often capitalised suggesting an abbreviation or acronym, but it is most likely derived from W-class anti-AIRcraft).

The Thornycroft type leader Wallace was also given a WAIR conversion, but as a larger ship she also received a quadruple QF 2 pdr Mark VII mounting.

The armament was completed by a pair of quadruple 0.5 inch Vickers machine guns on a platform amidships, although sometimes single QF 2 pdr Mark VIII were carried in lieu.

Two racks and throwers for depth charges were carried aft, principally for self-defence purposes, although Viceroy sank U-1274 off the east coast of Scotland on 16 April 1945.

Walpole, Windsor, Witshed and Wivern received an army-pattern semi-automatic twin QF 6 pounder 10 cwt gun in 'A' position for East Coast anti-E boat work.