Rear Admiral Converse was considered one of the ablest officers in the Navy and was well known as an expert on ordnance, especially regarding to torpedoes. In 1904, when only the first sixteen "torpedo boat destroyers" were in commission, President Theodore Roosevelt ordered the Navy to convene a board under his leadership to "consider the types and qualities of torpedo vessels and their machinery." The board developed a functional description for future destroyers, which was first applied in the design of the Smith- and Paulding-class "flivvers" of fiscal years 1907-11.