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Five-star Admiral Chester Nimitz, who led the U.S. Navy to win the Pacific War, once said: "Looking at all the ships in the Navy that can be used to seize sea supremacy, we will find that the destroyer is of unprecedented importance,...... Not even aggressive submarines or aircraft carriers can shake the importance of destroyers in future naval battles. This sentence fully proves the prominent role played by destroyers in the operational history of the U.S. Navy. The history of the US Navy destroyer began in the early 20th century, to the end of World War II in 1945, after the development and improvement of six generations of ship types, the establishment of the world's largest destroyer group, while the formation of "practical, balanced, generalized" characteristics of the destroyer design concept, destroyers became the U.S. Navy fleet to gallop the ocean indispensable "sea light cavalry", a large number of destroyers adapted to a variety of tasks in the World War II period of maritime warfare played an important role. This series of articles will select famous ship types and examples from World War II to show the battlefield style of the US Navy's destroyers!
Passed down from six generations to perfection
A brief history of the development of destroyers in the U.S. Navy
In the construction of destroyers, the U.S. Navy is an authentic latecomer. In the 1890s, in response to the emerging threat of torpedo boats, the British Navy pioneered the construction of torpedo boat destroyers. Under his leadership, the navies of France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Japan and other countries introduced the new type of destroyer at the end of the 19th century. However, the rapidly rising U.S. Navy was still obsessed with building a strong battleship and had little interest in destroyers, until the Americans realized that their main fleet lacked protection in the face of enemy torpedo boats during the Spanish-American War in 1898, and thus noticed the role of destroyers. Even so, the U.S. Navy's first destroyer was not completed until 1902.
The U.S. Navy's first destroyer, the USS Bainbridge, was commissioned on November 24, 1902.
The history of the construction of the U.S. Navy destroyer began in August 1899 with the "Bambrich", with a displacement of 420 tons, a speed of 29 knots, equipped with 2 76 mm naval guns, 5 57 mm naval guns and 2 457 mm torpedo tubes. With the advantage of being a latecomer, the technical starting point of the US Navy destroyers is very high, drawing on the technical experience of the naval destroyers of the same era, and has made great progress in the following ten years, reaching the world's advanced level. From 1902 to 1915, the U.S. Navy successively built a total of 68 destroyers in nine classes, regarded as the first generation of destroyers, the tonnage of a single ship increased from 400 tons to 1000 tons, completed the technical upgrade from steam engines to steam turbines, from coal-fired boilers to oil-fired boilers, with a speed of more than 30 knots, armament was also greatly enhanced, equipped with a larger caliber and a larger number of artillery, and the number of torpedo tubes was also increased to 12! Destroyers became the standard convoy of the U.S. Navy's battleship and also carried out torpedo attacks.
■ The Clemenson-class destroyer "Kane", the flat-deck four-chimney shape is a typical feature of the Clemson class.
The outbreak of World War I in 1914 provided a broad stage for destroyers, while the needs of war also stimulated technological advances, pushing the performance of destroyers to a higher level. Unlike the sluggishness of its inception, the U.S. Navy reacted quickly, initiating the design of the second-generation destroyer, and in 1917, after entering the war against the threat of German unrestricted submarine warfare, prioritizing the construction of destroyers and demonstrating the astonishing strength of mass construction, the development of U.S. Navy destroyers ushered in the first peak. In just six years, from 1916 to 1922, the U.S. Navy built a total of 273 new destroyers of three classes, namely the Caldwell class (6), the Wicks class (111) and the Clemson class (156), all of which were flat-deck ships, so they were collectively referred to as "flat-deck destroyers". Compared with the first generation of destroyers, the flat-deck destroyers are larger in size, with a length of near or more than 100 meters, a displacement of more than 1100 tons, a speed of 32 to 35 knots, equipped with 4 102 mm naval guns and 12 533 mm torpedo tubes (4 triples), with significant improvements in shelling and lightning strike capabilities, and also installed deep-bullet slides and light anti-aircraft weapons, marking the beginning of diversification of the tasks undertaken by U.S. Navy destroyers.
■ In 1922, the flat-deck destroyer group docked at the San Diego Naval Base was densely docked, and the large number of surplus destroyers led to a ten-year suspension of destroyers in the U.S. Navy.
After World War I, more than 200 brand-new flat-deck destroyers were clearly surplus to the peacetime U.S. Navy, leading to a halt in the construction of destroyers, which did not start a single new destroyer for a decade from 1922 to 1932. At the same time, however, the Japanese Navy, the biggest rival of the U.S. Navy on the other side of the Pacific, is digging hard to strengthen the combat effectiveness of destroyers to compensate for the weakness of capital ships constrained by the Washington Treaty. In the mid-1920s, the Japanese Navy introduced the powerful special destroyer Blowing Snow class, with a displacement of 1680 tons, a speed of 38 knots, three 127 mm twin guns and three 610 mm triple torpedo tubes, fierce firepower, performance data surpassing all U.S. military active destroyers, making the U.S. Navy feel unprecedented pressure. In a state of uneasiness, the U.S. Navy ushered in the London Naval Conference of 1930.
■ The first ship of the Japanese Navy's special destroyer, the "Blowing Snow", from the paper data, its performance exceeds that of European and American destroyers in the same period.
As a complement to the Washington Treaty of 1922, the 1930 Treaty of London included destroyers in the restrictive clause, which had an important impact on the development of destroyers in various countries thereafter. The Treaty of London divides destroyers into two categories: destroyers with a standard displacement of no more than 1500 tons and destroyers with a standard displacement of no more than 1850 tons, and stipulates that the caliber of the main guns of destroyers shall not exceed 130 mm, and the tonnage of destroyers shall not exceed 16% of the total tonnage of their own destroyers. The treaty also regulates the total tonnage of each country, and the maximum total tonnage of destroyers that the U.S. Navy can maintain before the expiration of the treaty on December 31, 1936, is 150,000 tons, equivalent to 13 destroyers and 84 destroyers.
■ Members of the American delegation who sailed to London, England, at the end of 1929 for a naval conference took a group photo on the deck of the cruise ship.
After the signing of the Treaty of London, the U.S. Navy took stock of the destroyers in active service, as many as 255, a large number but the performance is not flattering, and the gap with the new destroyers of Japan and European countries in the same period is obvious. In order to catch up with the pace of the times, the United States immediately launched the design work of the third generation of destroyers to replace the old destroyers of multiple quantities and quality. The U.S. Navy requires that new destroyers must have the following performance characteristics under the framework of the treaty: First, they must have excellent endurance and can carry more fuel in the sea far from the base for a long time to adapt to operations in the Pacific; second, in order to cope with increasing air threats, new destroyers should be equipped with high-level dual-purpose naval guns to enhance air defense capabilities, which is particularly forward-looking; third, it is necessary to be equipped with a better performance fire control system to better play the combat effectiveness of the whole ship's artillery.
■ The USS Mahan destroyer, photographed in 1938, noted that its three main guns at the rear were open guns and lacked protection.
■ During World War II, the Map of the Mahan-class destroyer "Kushing" line, pay attention to the torpedo tube arranged in a glyph, and in the wartime Mahan class, more than three main guns were removed.
Construction of the third-generation destroyers began in 1932, and over the next seven years 60 1500-ton destroyers of the sixth class were built, namely the Farragut class (8 ships), the Mahan class (18 ships), the Gridley class (4 ships), the Bagley class (8 ships), the BenHam class (10 ships) and the Sims class (12 ships), in addition to the construction of 13 1850-ton destroyers porter class (8 ships) and Sommers class (5 ships). The above-mentioned destroyers of all levels can be divided into three categories according to technical characteristics: the Faraguet class and the Mahan class belong to the early 1500-ton destroyers, both adopt the bow ship type, double chimney low dry port design, equipped with 5 single-mounted 38 times diameter 127 mm high-level dual-purpose naval guns, ahead of the world, torpedo armament is 8 to 12 533 mm torpedo tubes, the speed exceeds 35 knots, the endurance reaches 6500 nautical miles / 12 knots (Mahan class), and the performance has been greatly improved compared with the flat deck destroyers. However, it also produced some of the problems of unprotected turrets and excessive weight of ships, which affected the survivability of firepower and combat capabilities under harsh sea conditions.
■ The U.S. Navy's Gridley-class destroyer USS Craven, with its single chimney, was the main feature of the late 1500-ton destroyer.
■ Line drawing of the Gridley-class destroyers, pay attention to the four quadruple torpedo tubes on the two sides of the rear of the hull.
In response to the shortcomings of the early model, the later 1500-ton destroyers since the Gridley class were improved, reducing the number of main guns to 4 in addition to the Sims class, and modifying the flue layout to a single chimney to reduce the upper weight, reduce the weight of the ship, and improve the stability of navigation. The reduction of the main gun armament enhanced the lightning strike capability, and the number of torpedo tubes increased to 16 (4 quadruples), the largest number of torpedo tubes in the history of the world's destroyers, in addition to the speed exceeded 38 knots. The last class, the Sims class of 1500-ton destroyers, revised the design again, restoring the number of main guns to 5, the number of torpedo tubes to 8, and the speed to 35 knots. The third category is the 1850-ton destroyer Porter class and Thesome class, which are equipped with 8 127 mm naval guns, which are deployed in four twin turrets, which strengthen the surface gun combat capability, but their main guns can only shoot flat, do not have air defense capabilities, and are equipped with 8 to 12 torpedo tubes on the torpedo armament, with a speed of 37 knots.
■ THE USS PORTER-CLASS DESTROYER "MADONGAR" OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY, PAY ATTENTION TO ITS TWIN 127 MM MAIN GUN.
■ Potter-class destroyer line map, the four main turrets in front of the two rear two layout.
The U.S. Navy began building the fourth generation of destroyers, the Benson class and its successor, the Greaves class, in 1938. At this time, the Washington Treaty had expired, but for the sake of technical continuity and the continuity of design and construction, the above two classes of ships were designed on the basis of the Sims class, the biggest change was the use of boiler compartment - engine compartment staggered layout, improving the survivability of the ship, and thus restored the double chimney structure, armament equipped with 5 single 127 mm main guns and 10 torpedo tubes (2 five-packs), the tonnage increased to 1620 tons, the speed of 35 knots. The Benson and Grifos classes were the U.S. Navy's latest fleet destroyers at the outbreak of the Pacific War and the main destroyers before the Fletcher class entered service in batches, with construction continuing until 1943, with 30 Benson class and 66 Grifs class. Before pearl harbor on December 7, 1941, the U.S. Navy had 165 destroyers, about 100 of which were new destroyers under the age of seven years, and a significant number of flat-deck destroyers.
■ The destroyer Benson, which is sailing at high speed, has been restored to a double chimney shape due to the staggered layout of boilers and engines.
■ The destroyer MED, completed and commissioned in June 1942, belongs to the Benson class. The wartime Benson class eliminated the Main Gun Iii and rear torpedo tubes.
In September 1939, the outbreak of World War II in Europe, the Pacific region is also tense, although the United States temporarily remained neutral, but also began to prepare for war, in this context the U.S. Navy launched the selection of the fifth generation of destroyers to meet the needs of fighting in the two oceans. At that time, the U.S. Naval General Committee tended to take a miniaturization route, controlling the displacement at about 1500 tons, and reducing the chance of being shot by narrowing the profile of the overall shape, but the development of the future naval warfare situation and the progress of naval warfare weapons require that the anti-ship, anti-submarine, and air defense performance of new destroyers be fully strengthened, and this requirement is difficult to achieve on the miniaturized platform, in fact, large-scale has been an inevitable trend in the development of destroyers. During the preliminary design phase of the fall/winter of 1939, neither the Benson class nor the Sims class was satisfactory to the Navy's top brass, but an informal plan attracted attention, the biggest feature of which was the abandonment of the bow ship type that had been used for many years since the Farragut class, the restoration of the iconic flat deck ship type of the second generation of destroyers, and the satisfaction of hull strength requirements without increasing displacement too much, thus determining the basic form of the fifth generation of destroyers.
■ U.S. Navy Fletcher-class destroyer line map, its standard displacement has exceeded 2000 tons.
On July 18, 1942, the first ship of the Fletcher-class destroyer, the Fletcher, was sea-tested off New York.
After the outbreak of World War II, the United Kingdom announced that it would no longer abide by the armament treaties signed before the war, prompting the US Navy to completely depart from the framework of the treaty to study the design of new destroyers, and the actual combat experience from the British Navy also provided reference for related research, resulting in the complete abandonment of the miniaturization route, and the displacement of the new ship exceeded 2000 tons in one fell swoop! In January 1940, the fifth generation of destroyers was designed to be finalized, with a displacement of 2082 tons, a design speed of 38 knots, an endurance of 6500 nautical miles/15 knots, equipped with five 127 mm single-mounted main guns and 2 five-pack torpedo tubes, as well as 28 mm machine guns and 12.7 mm machine guns, carrying 28 deep bullets, laying light armor in key areas, because the displacement was close to 2100 tons, so it was also called a 2100-ton destroyer, which is the famous Fletcher class. Before the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941, the U.S. Navy had ordered 119 Fletcher-class ships, and after the war declared war between Japan and the United States, an additional 56 ships were added, bringing the total number of ships built to a record 175. The Fletcher class entered service in June 1942 and from 1943 became the core force of the U.S. Navy's destroyer force, making outstanding contributions to the victory over the Japanese Navy.
On May 3, 1942, the Fletcher and Radford were on the docks of the Union Shipyard ready to be launched at the same time. In the four years from March 1941 to March 1945, a total of 175 Fletcher-class ships were built.
■ This painting shows the heroic posture of the destroyer Fletcher fighting in the Pacific Theater.
Although the design of the Fletcher class has been excellent, but there are still problems such as too high center of gravity, poor rudder efficiency, insufficient anti-aircraft firepower, in addition to continuous improvement of the Fletcher class in the process of construction and use, the U.S. Navy began to design the successor ship type in 1940, and was officially finalized in May 1942, which is the sixth generation of destroyer Ellen Sumner class, which can be regarded as an expanded and improved version of the Fletcher class to some extent, and the standard displacement has increased to 2600 tons. The biggest change in the Alan Sumner class was the use of three twin 127 mm naval guns, which enhanced artillery combat capabilities and long-range anti-aircraft firepower, a widened hull and a low superstructure that reduced the center of gravity, improved stability, improved maneuverability through the use of a dual rudder design, and at the beginning of the design was equipped with 40 mm and 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, radar electronics were also more perfect, and the torpedo armament was the same as that of the Fletcher class, but the speed and endurance were reduced. Construction of the Alan Sumner class began in May 1943 and 70 were eventually completed, 12 of which were converted into rapid mine-laying ships.
■ USS Samuel Moore, a U.S. Navy-class destroyer, this photo is a good illustration of its weapons layout.
■ Line drawing of the destroyer "Allen Sumner" in 1945, pay attention to the removal of the rear torpedo tube, and the installation of a quadruple 40 mm anti-aircraft gun to strengthen anti-aircraft firepower.
In response to the shortcomings of the Alan Sumner class, the U.S. Navy extended the hull on its basis, thus determining the design of the Killin class. The overall design of the Killin class follows that of the Alan Sumner class, with basically the same armament configuration and power unit, but with a 40% increase in fuel load and an extended endurance from 3300 nautical miles/20 knots to 4500 nautical miles/20 knots. The U.S. Navy ordered 152 Killing-class ships, construction began in August 1944, and 45 were completed by august 1945 before the end of the war, after which orders were partially cancelled and the final construction quantity was 98.
USS Agholm, Argholm-class destroyer of the U.S. Navy, entered service in 1946.
Looking at the development of the US Navy's destroyers in the first half of the 20th century, it is not difficult to find that the US Navy has always followed a balanced and practical design concept, and strived to build the destroyer into a generalized combat platform that adapts to the battlefield environment, which was particularly prominent during the Pacific War. The Pacific War is a new type of war characterized by three-dimensional operations in the sea and air, in this form of operation battleship is no longer the key to determining victory or defeat, the traditional destroyers who pay attention to lightning strikes are difficult to have the opportunity to play their specialties, on the contrary, the new naval warfare situation requires destroyers to have the characteristics of all-rounders, competent for anti-ship, anti-submarine, air defense, escort, reconnaissance and other types of combat tasks, and in this regard, the US Navy destroyers are exemplary. Compared with the Japanese destroyers obsessed with surface attack capabilities, the U.S. Navy destroyers do not have perverted lightning strike capabilities and no dazzling paper data, but they pay more attention to versatility and versatility, and are more in line with the requirements of actual combat. At the same time, the strong industrial strength of the United States enabled it to have large-scale shipbuilding capabilities in wartime, build hundreds of destroyers in a short period of time, and enrich the strength of the fleet, thus gaining an overwhelming advantage over the enemy in both quantity and quality, laying a solid foundation for winning the war.
■ This painting depicts the Fletcher-class destroyers fighting with aircraft carriers and cruisers during the Pacific War to resist Japanese air raids.