destroyers were nearly 3 14 feet in length with a narrow beam of 3 1 feet. The very fin e length-to-beam ratio enabled the flushdeckers to cut through the seas at speeds up to 35 kn ots, but also caused them to have a large turning radius-a disadvantage for sub hunting. Yet Navy leaders were impressed by the way in which the Germans and British had employed destroyers in the Battle of]udand and envisioned sending squadrons of these fast ships ah ead of the battle force to fire spreads of torpedoes at an oncoming enemy. In addition to participating in fleet exercises, the flushdeckers perfo rmed duties ranging from showing the flag, search and rescue, and humanitarian reli ef, to oceanographic research and guiding oceanic fli ght crossi ngs. Another new miss ion that continues today was "plane guard"trailing the newly- introduced aircrafr carriers during fli ght operatio ns as a safety measure. With a large number of flushdeckers in service, and encumbered by naval limitation treaties, the Navy put off new destroyer construction for USS Fairfax (DD 93), commissioned in 19 18, a decade. Obsolete at the outwas one of the vessels turned over to Great Britain break of World War II , fifty in the destroyers-for-bases deal in 1940. flushdeckers were transferred to Britain in 1940 to bolster the Ro ya l Navy's effo rts against the German U-boats. Once America entered the war, many of the flushdeckers remaining in the US Navy's order of battle fo ught as destroyers, but others were converted to mi nelayers, mine-
depth charged by USS Fanning (DD 37) and USS Nicholson (DD 52). After removing his crew, the German skipper opened th e U-boat's seacocks and the submarine took one last plunge. However, their m ere presence as convoy escorts deterred U-boat torpedo attacks. In the month of America's en try, the German submarines claimed over 900,000 tons ofallied shipping. By November 191 7, losses had been cut by two thirds. More important, not one American soldier was lost to enemy action en route to France. In the fin al months of the war, the first of50 destroyers authorized in 1916 joined the effort against the Ge rm ans. Affectionately called "Four-Pipers" by former crewm en, the nicknam e was not entirely an accurate descriptor as three of the eventual 273 ships of this class had three stacks. All of them, however, had flush decks, wi th a high freeboard forward and a gradual taper to the stern . H ence "Flushdeckers" is a better label for the class. Displacing an average of 1,200 tons full y loaded, these
The destroyer USS Gearing (DD 11O) underway in the M editerranean in 1968.
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sweepers, seaplane tenders, fast troop transports, and auxiliary ships. Most of the fi ghting again st the Axis, however, was performed by destroyers built from the 1930s through the war. The 1930s classes, nicknam ed the "Goldpl aters" because of the costly propulsion and weapons system s built into the ships, fearured oneor two-s tack silhouettes that were pleasing to the eye. T he eight destroyers of the Porter class that entered service in 1936 and 1937, displacing 1,85 0 tons, packed a grea ter punch, having a main battery of eight 5" 38-caliber guns for surface action , and were designed to lead destroyer squadrons into combat. Afrer WWII, warships designed to perform these fun ctions would be designated "D estroyer Leaders" (DL). Capable of speeds approaching 40 knots, the Goldplaters served as test beds for design concepts inco rporated into the wartime Fletcher, Allen M. Sumner and Gearing classes-destroyers so capable and seaworthy that som e still remain in servi ce w ith foreign navies. Whilesonar-equippeddesrroyers joined the fight against the U-boat menace, a smaller and m ore m aneuverable type of warship- the destroyer escort-was designed and built for convoy duties . These new ships freed destroyers to screen carrier task gro ups, perform shore bombardrn en t, and engage in surface action. Because of the air threat, the WWIIgeneration destroyers featured 5" 38-caliber dual-purpose guns that could fire common rounds at ships or antiaircraft rounds, soon firted with proximi ty fuzes, at attacking aircraft. They also bristled with 20mm
USS Claude V. Ricketts (DDG 5)
SEA HISTORY 100, SPRING 2002