The Weapon class destroyers were a smaller counterpart to the Battle class, both of which were follow ups to the War Emergency Programme destroyers. The Weapons were were not vastly larger than the WEP ships but had enough extra beam to feature a more comprehensive armament set. This comprised six 4-in QF Mk. XVI guns and a full load of 10 torpedo tubes. It was originally intended to equip as many as 150 depth charges but Squid ASW mortars were used once completed, these replacing one of the turrets. Anti-air armament was considerable, including a pair of twin Bofors guns on STAAG mountings as well as a pair of singles. Perhaps the most important innovation of the Weapon class was its alternating boiler and engine arrangement in order to reduce the risk of the ship being disabled by a single hit. This had become standard in the larger US destroyers, but was introduced for the first time in a British destroyer class with these ships. A total of 19 Weapon class ships were planned but only four were completed; the remainder were cancelled once it was obvious that the war was won. They were of limited use post-war and as a result, were converted to radar pickets in the 1950s with a Type 965 radar mounted on a new lattice mast. They were later decommissioned in the 1960s.

HMS Battleaxe was severely damaged in a collision with the frigate HMS Ursa in August 1962. Being at the end of its life, it was never repaired.