Alan M. The Allen M. Sumner class destroyer, or Sumner-class for short, was a first-class destroyer built by the U.S. Navy between 1943 and 1946, with 58 destroyers built. Due to the defeat of the Japanese Navy at the Battle of Midway in 1942, the Japanese abandoned the strategic offensive and also lost the sea and air supremacy in the early stages of the war, and at the same time, the sea and air confrontation between the two sides became more and more fierce. Against such a backdrop, the U.S. Navy believes that the anti-aircraft firepower of the Fletcher-class destroyers needs to be further improved. Therefore, on the basis of the hull of the Fletcher-class destroyer, the superstructure and weapons configuration were modified, and the U.S. Navy designed a new generation of destroyers.
In 1944, when the first Sumner-class destroyers entered service, the balance of victory had begun to tip in favor of the Allies. In the Atlantic Theater, some of the Sumner-class destroyers participated in D-Day, supporting the landing forces with naval gunfire at Utah Beach. In the Pacific Theater, the Sumner-class destroyers took part in the Purgatory Battle of Okinawa, entering Tokyo Bay and witnessing the signing of the surrender ceremony by representatives of the Japanese government aboard the battleship USS Missouri.
(Alan Sumner class line diagram (ps: illustrated as late type)) This class of ships, like the Fletcher class, adopts a flat-deck design (restores the Hell QAQ)
In terms of weapon systems, the Sumner-class destroyers have three twin 127mm/38 Mk32 high-level dual-purpose guns (medium-term switch to MK38), with turret arrangements in front of and back.
The (ancestral) Mk37 fire control system at the top of the bridge and the Mk25 fire control radar guided long-range air defense.
and an open-air bridge at the front of the fire control (blowing sea breeze (̄▽ ̄; )) open-air gunner scopes on both sides
Two 20 mm Erlikong cannons on the left side of The Second Chimney, two 20 mm Oerlikon cannons (kitchen pipes on the right rear side of the chimney) and two quadruple 40 mm "Bofors" anti-aircraft guns staggered behind them, with a separate gunner's observation bay and gun position canvas on each side
An MK15 five-pack 533mm torpedo tube was placed on the upper deck of the rear main gun, and there was also an MK14 between the two chimneys
Five-pack 533mm torpedo tube [The difference between the two is that the MK15 adds a gunner's shield relative to the MK14 (4mm is also comforting)
(To the right of the launch tube there are torpedo loading aids and three K-type anti-submarine launchers on either side of the ship)
Type K anti-submarine deep-missile launcher
[Late-stage "Hank" type, anti-submarine deep-shell slide rail at the tail (it can be seen that its MK15 torpedo was changed to a quad-mounted Bofors to cope with the later sea and air crisis)]
Two anti-submarine deep-shell slide rails and a white oxygen cylinder in the middle, a spare deep-shell bracket, and a 20mm anti-aircraft gun position at the front [later removed due to counterweights]
On April 14, 1945, the second-generation Rafi was ordered to serve as a radar alert ship 30 nautical miles north of Okinawa, a very dangerous mission in which a large number of Fletcher-class classes had been sunk by crazy suicide planes, so the U.S. Navy began to deploy the more air defense-able Sumner and Killin classes to carry out early warning missions.
The 16th was an unforgettable day for the Rafi to escape from death and fight heroically. The Japanese sent a total of 165 aircraft, many of them suicide planes, divided into three groups to attack the US fleet. During the 80-minute battle, the Rafi was besieged by 22 suicide planes, 5 of which hit the ship and exploded, while being hit by 4 bombs. The Rafi also shot down nine suicide planes. The crew was wounded 71 and 32 dead. But the heroic destroyer was not sunk by the legendary damage pipe of the U.S. Navy, and even miraculously returned to Guam, where it was repaired and officially commissioned in October 1945.