Fletcher

The Fletcher class (named for Admiral Frank F. Fletcher) was the largest class of destroyer ever ordered, and was also one of the most successful and popular with the destroyer men themselves. Compared to earlier classes built for the Navy, they carried a significant increase in anti-aircraft weapons and other weaponry, which caused displacements to rise. Their flush deck construction added structural strength, although it did make them rather cramped, as less space was available below decks compared with a raised forecastle.

Design:

The Fletcher-class destroyer was the first generation of destroyers to be designed after the series of Naval Treaties that had limited ship designs heretofore. The growth in the design was in part to answer a question that always dogged U.S. Navy designs, that being the long range required by operations in the Pacific Ocean. They were also to carry no less than five 5 in (127 mm) guns and ten deck-mounted torpedo tubes on the centerline, allowing them to meet any foreign design on equal terms. Compared to earlier designs, the Fletchers were large, allowing them to eventually absorb the addition of two 40 mm Bofors quadruple mount AA guns as well as six 20 mm Oerlikon dual AA gun positions. This addition to the AA suite required the deletion of the forward quintuple torpedo mount, a change done under the 4 April 1945 anti-kamikaze program.

They also were much less top-heavy than the previous classes, allowing them to take on additional equipment and weapons without major redesign. They were fortunate in catching American production at the right moment, becoming "the" destroyer design, and only Fletcher-class derivatives, the Sumner and Gearing classes, would follow it. The first design inputs were in the fall of 1939 from questionnaires distributed around design bureaus and the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. The design parameters were the armaments desired of the next destroyer. As such, the questions were of how many guns, torpedoes, and depth charges were seen as desirable. Also asked was at what point would the design grow large enough to become a torpedo target instead of a torpedo delivery system. The answer that came back was that five 5 in (127 mm) dual purpose guns, twelve torpedoes, and twenty-eight depth charges would be ideal, while a return to the 1500-ton designs of the past was seen as undesirable. Speed requirements varied from 35 to 38 kn (40 to 44 mph; 65 to 70 km/h), and shortcomings in the earlier Sims class, which were top heavy and needed lead ballast to correct it, caused the Fletcher design to be widened by 18 in (46 cm) of beam. As with other previous U.S. flush deck destroyer designs, seagoing performance suffered. This was mitigated by deployment to the Pacific Ocean, which is relatively calm.

To achieve 38 kn (44 mph; 70 km/h) with a 500-ton increase in displacement, shaft horsepower was increased from 50,000 to 60,000 compared to the previous Benson and Gleaves classes. The Fletchers featured air-encased boilers producing steam at 600 psi and 850°F, with emergency diesel generators providing 80 kW of electric power. Typically, Babcock & Wilcox boilers and General Electric geared steam turbines were equipped, although other designs and manufacturers were probably used to maximize the rate of production.

Armament:

The main gun armament was five dual-purpose 5 inch/38 caliber (127 mm) guns in single mounts, guided by a Mark 37 Gun Fire Control System, including a Mk 25 fire control radar linked by a Mark 1A Fire Control Computer and stabilized by a Mk 6 8,500 rpm gyro. Ten 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes were fitted in two quintuple centerline mounts, firing the Mark 15 torpedo. Initial designed anti-aircraft armament was a quadruple 1.1"/75 caliber gun mount and six .50 caliber machine guns; however, as the attack on Pearl Harbor had shown the need for increased light AA weapons, later ships were typically fitted with two twin 40 mm Bofors mounts plus seven single 20 mm Oerlikon weapons. Anti-submarine armament was initially two depth charge racks at the stern, augmented by up to six K-gun depth charge throwers as the war progressed.

Throughout the course of World War II, the number of anti-aircraft weapons increased, typically resulting in five twin 40 mm Bofors mounts plus seven single 20 mm Oerlikon weapons by 1945. Due to the increasing threat from kamikaze attacks, fifty-one ships received further AA modifications beginning in 1945, replacing the forward torpedo tubes and midships 40 mm twin Bofors with two quad 40 mm mounts for a total of 14 barrels, and the seven 20 mm singles with six 20 mm twins. Three (Pringle, Stevens, and Halford) were built (six planned) with aircraft catapults, resulting in the deletion of one 5-inch mount and the after set of torpedo tubes. This alteration was not a success in service and was not repeated. These three destroyers were later converted to the normal Fletcher-class configuration.

Nineteen were lost during World War II; six more were damaged and not repaired. Postwar, the remainder were decommissioned and put into reserve.

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  USS Fletcher in her original layout, 1942.

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  The bridge of Fletcher at the U.S. Navy Museum.