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. The agreement was a violation of the official neutral position of the United States.