Жаңа буын эсминецтерді жақсарту: Теңіздік қасиеттер мен конструкциялық өзгерістер

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De Robeck also called for various modifications to destroyer design to help make ships more seaworthy, in particular keeping up their speed in adverse weather conditions. The most noticeable change would be to introduce a raised forecastle rather than an arched turtleback for the hull forward of the bridge, and that the bridge should be placed further aft to keep it clear of spray from waves breaking over the bow. Furthermore, he felt that destroyers should run their speed trials with a more realistic load of fuel and supplies. The "30 knotter" type might have a nominal speed of 30 knots, but even in very good weather this was never achieved in service. Other officers serving on Royal Navy destroyers made similar observations about their ships. John de Robeck's commanding officer, Vice Admiral "Jackie" Fisher, drew a comparison with the German , which had impressed Royal Navy officers who had seen it. In July 1901 the Director of Naval Construction worked on sketch designs for future destroyers, which included many of the features de Robeck and his colleagues advocated, as well as a heavier and more reliable kind of engine. The trials speed was initially , though further requirements for increased strength reduced the speed to While this speed seemed like a significant reduction, it would be measured with a realistic 95 tons of coal loaded on board, and the better sea keeping properties meant that the new ships would perform better than a "30 knotter" in any seas except for a flat calm.

As with other early British destroyer classes, the Admiralty invited specialist private firms to submit their own designs for destroyers which would meet the specification. The idea was to use the builders' knowledge of building small, fast, ships to help cram powerful machinery into a small hull. For this reason, details of the hull and internal arrangements differed between ships in the class. Nevertheless, the River class can clearly be distinguished from previous destroyers because of its raised forecastle. Previous British designs had a low "turtle back" forecastle, which, although intended to clear the bows, caused them to dig in to the sea, resulting in a very wet conning position. The bridge was also further back than in previous destroyer models. All ships were coal fired (except Arno which was oil fired), and all had triple expansion steam engines except for four; Eden, Stour, Test and Arno were powered by steam turbines. Eden was given turbines to test their viability for future destroyer classes, with two propellers on each of her three shafts, to transmit the power at the high revolutions of the direct drive turbines, a feature of the earlier Turbinia. By 1906 the Russo Japanese War had shown that the 6 pounder gun was insufficiently effective, so the five 6 pounders in this class were replaced by three additional 12 pounders, creating an "all big gun" armament.

With a general increase in size and more solid construction, the Rivers became the first truly oceangoing and useful torpedo boat destroyers in Royal Navy service. Despite making only 25 knots (previous classes had made under the most favourable conditions), the increased seaworthiness meant that they could maintain this speed into a sea and that they remained workable and fightable at the same time. Notwithstanding a variety of design differences, all ships had either two broad funnels or two pairs of narrow funnels.