In the
Destroyers for Bases Agreement between the
United States and the
United Kingdom on September 2, 1940, fifty mothballed
Caldwell,
Wickes, and
Clemson-class US Navy destroyers were transferred to the
Royal Navy from the
United States Navy in exchange for land rights on British possessions. Generally referred to as the "twelve hundred-ton type" (also known as "flush-deck", or "four-pipers" after their four
funnels), the destroyers became the
Town-class and were named after towns common to both the United States and Britain.