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The Destroyers
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| The destroyer class of ship came into existance as a weapon against
the torpedo boat which itself came about as a cheap weapon against capital ships.
The destroyer was in fact developed out of torpedo boat design. When opportunity
provided, the destroyer could itself fulfill the mission of the torpedo boats and
attack capital ships with torpedoes. Destroyers also were capable, being larger and
more durable than torpedo boats, of serving as scout ships for the fleet. Eventually
they became the general workhorses of the world's navies. They were small, expendable,
and supremely seaworthy. Torpedo boats were powered at first by steam and,
initially, very much resembled the MTBs/PTs/S-Boats of WWII in size and use. The
term "motor torpedo boats," is usually associated with later, internal
combustion-engined types and their WWI predecessors.
The very first "torpedo boats" were actually steam-driven boats carried
aboard larger ships and equipped to carry a Whitehead locomotive torpedo. Their
use was probably thought of as analogous to the earlier "cutting-out" and fireship
tactics against a force in harbor as I doubt they could have been much depended
upon for open sea work. Their size, etc., points toward the later Motor Torpedo Boat.
True torpedo boats began to appear in the latter 1870s and were relatively small,
steam driven vessels, usually armed with a single tube and some form of rapid fire
weapon. Like the later MTBs they were ge- nerally looked upon as coastal weapons.
As they grew in size and power they came to be perceived by the British Admiralty
as a sea-going threat to the British Fleet particularly in the Channel and Baltic
Sea. This led, first, to the Torpedo Gun Boat, a larger, more heavily-armed Torpedo
Boat, and, ultimately, to the Torpedo Boat Destroyer - the direct ancestor of the
Destroyer.
The term Torpedo Boat Destroyer became simply "Destroyer," but the original sense
still appears in the French and Italian designations "contre-torpilleur" and
"cacciatorpediniere."
Best current read for this: Lyon, David, "The First Destroyers," Annapolis,
Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1996.
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The destroyer is different from the rest of ships. It is small, fast and personal.
No other ship offers the experience that a destroyer does in any sea state. Long
after they are gone, their crews remember.
"The First Destroyers"
by David Lyon
"U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History "
by Norman Friedman
"Blood on the Sea:
American Destroyers Lost in World War II
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by Robert Sinclair Parkin
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Destroyers OnLine only handles US ships no longer in commission .
For information on current destroyer types please browse the pages of :
NavyOnLine and
World Navies Today
January, 1963 - Yokosuka, Japan
Left to right, USS John S. McCain DLG-3, undetermined target, USS Prairie AD-15,
USS Coontz DLG-9, USS Wedderburn DD-684., USS Duncan DD-874, and USS De Haven
DD-727
The Destroyer Classes of old
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Class Name
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Lead Ship
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Hull Number
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Commissioned
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Ships Built
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Bainbridge
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Bainbridge
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DD 1
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November 24, 1902
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9
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Hull
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Hull
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DD 7
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May 20, 1903
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2
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Lawrence
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Lawrence
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DD 8
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April 14, 1903
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2
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Truxtun
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Truxtun
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DD 14
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September 11, 1902
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3
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Smith
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Smith
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DD 17
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November 26, 1909
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3
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Flusser
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Flusser
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DD 20
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October 28, 1909
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2
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Paulding
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Paulding
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DD 22
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September 29, 1910
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21
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Cassin
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Cassin
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DD 43
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August 9, 1913
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8
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O'Brien
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O'Brien
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DD 51
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May 22, 1915
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6
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Tucker
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Tucker
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DD 57
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April 11, 1916
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6
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Sampson
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Sampson
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DD 63
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June 27 1916
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6
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Caldwell
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Caldwell
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DD 69
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December 1, 1917
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6
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Wickes
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Wickes
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DD 75
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July 31, 1918
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111
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Clemson
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Clemson
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DD 186
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December 29, 1919
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156
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Farragut (1500 Tonner)
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Farragut
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DD 348
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June 8, 1934
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8
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Porter
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Porter
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DD 356
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August 25, 1936
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13
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Mahan
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Mahan
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DD 364
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November 16, 1936
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18
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Somers
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Somers
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DD 381
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June 30, 1938
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5
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Gridley
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Gridley
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DD 380
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June 24, 1937
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4
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Bagley
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Bagley
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DD 386
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June 12, 1937
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8
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Sims
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Sims
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DD 409
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August 1, 1939
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12
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Benham
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Benham
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DD 397
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February 2, 1939
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10
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Benson
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Benson
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DD 421
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July 25, 1940
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24
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Bristol
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Bristol
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DD 453
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October 22, 1941
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72
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Fletcher
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Fletcher
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DD 445
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June 30, 1942
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175
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Sumner
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Allen M. Sumner
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DD 692
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January 26, 1944
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70
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Gearing
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Gearing
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DD 710
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May 3, 1945
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105
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Forrest Sherman
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Forrest Sherman
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DD 931
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November 9, 1955
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18
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Charles F. Adams
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Charles F. Adams
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DDG 2
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June 16, 1958
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23
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Norfolk
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Norfolk
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DL 1
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March 4, 1953
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5
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Coontz
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Coontz
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DDG 40( DLG 9 )
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December 10, 1960
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10
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