Monaghan

History

USS Monaghan (DD-354) was the last ship built of the Farragut-class destroyer design. She was named for Ensign John R. Monaghan. Monaghan was laid down on November 21, 1933 at the Boston Navy Yard, and launched on January 9, 1935. She was sponsored by Miss Mary F. Monaghan, niece of Ensign Monaghan, and commissioned on 19 April 1935, with Commander R. R. Thompson in command. During the next few years Monaghan operated primarily in the North Atlantic, training US Navy personnel who served in World War II. Monaghan was present during the Pearl Harbor raid on December 7, 1941. She participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway in 1942. Monaghan was sunk in a typhoon east of the Philippines in 1944.

Design

After the end of WW1 and the introduction of the Japanese Fubuki class, the USN had to develop a new class of Destroyers. The reactivation of all the entire WW1 Destroyer flotilla however was not considered an acceptable solution, so drafts were made for a modern class. With the London Naval Treaty in 1930 the tonnage was restricted to not more than 1500 tons per vessel.

After in-depth experiments and analysis of the old flushdeckers, including bending and bombing tests, it was decided to no longer pursue the flushdecker design but rather move to a bow that was one deck higher, giving the ships a higher freeboard for increased seaworthiness, and for the first time the Destroyers were supposed to be welded rather than riveted.

The result was a 104m long and 10.44m wide hull, displacing 1400 tons standard. The propulsion using steam could deliver 42800 shp and allow for a listed top speed of 36.5kn, however during trials a speed of around 41kn was achieved.

Initial armament of the Farragut consisted of five single mounts of the new 127mm/38 dual purpose gun (which would later prove to be one of the strongest AA guns of the war), which was directed by a Mark 33 Fire director for both anti-surface and anti-aircraft warfare. To save weight, only the two gun mounts on the foreship received a shield to protect the crew against splinter and heavy seas. Two quad 53.3cm Torpedo launchers were mounted on the centerline of the ship, again an improvement over the older Destroyers, and the light AA consisted of only four .50 cal machine guns.

Throughout World War Two it became clear that the threat from aircraft would grow more and more, thus the AAA had to be strengthened on all ships including the Destroyers of the Farragut class. This began with replacing the .50 cal machine guns with the modern 20mm Oerlikons, but in 1943 the ships had to sacrifice their third turret in exchange for the famous 40mm Bofors, which then filled the role of a medium range AA gun.

The eight Destroyers were laid down between 1932 and 1934, with the first ones being launched and commissioned in 1935.

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  USS Monaghan (DD-354)