Destroyer (Red Alert 1)

The Destroyer was the Allied medium warship during the. It was the intermediate between the gunboat and cruiser and served as the backbone of the Allied navy.

Background
Unlike the other vessels in the Allied navy, the destroyer was a multivalent unit. A bow mounted missile box launcher engaged aircraft, structures (being able to outrange Tesla Coils), and armor with Stinger missiles. It could also fill the anti-submarine role, and its dual depth charge launchers allowed them to fight Soviet submarines on more or less equal terms. Destroyers are the prime escorts of cruisers, which only provide heavy surface fire against buildings.

Legacy
With the Second World War era destroyers ageing, It was replaced by a new Destroyer of Third World War while its anti-aircraft role was taken by the Aegis cruiser.

Game unit
The Destroyer is more expensive and slower than the Gunboat, but it is stronger and more powerful, while additionally being much more versatile, able to strike any target from range.

The missiles have armor-piercing warheads which makes Destroyers effective against armored vehicles and aircraft, but less so against structures and infantry. The Destroyer's missiles also outrange Tesla coils and most other Soviet units.

Its dual depth charge launcher can do significant damage to opposing submarines, so 1 Destroyer can replace 2-3 gunboats in taking on one submarine. This makes the Destroyers best suited to escorting Cruisers which forms a tough combination, with the former providing anti-air and anti-submarine defenses so the latter can deliver devastating bombardments that can quickly level buildings.

Behind the scenes
The sidebar image and cinematics of the Destroyer seem to be based off of a Type 22 Batch 1 "Broadsword" Frigate of the British Royal Navy. The Type 22 Batch 1 was unique to the Royal Navy in lacking a main gun armament, being the first to be designed from the beginning without a large calibre gun turret. This perhaps fit with the game designers' supposed preference of an "all-missile" vessel to represent the guided missile Destroyer. Compared to the real Type 22 Frigate which had two Exocet missile launchers behind the forecastle, the cinematic Destroyer features a single larger six-cell missile launcher on the forecastle, while the rear hangar and helicopter pad was removed.