American Destroyers

The Bainbridge and Truxtun Classes were authorized by the United States following the Spanish-American War. The next 2 Classes had better engines and were more capable of traveling through the ocean. The Cassin through Sampson Classes were known as “thousand-tonners” due to their displacement, each new class had incremental improvements over the previous one. The Caldwell through Clemson Classes were known as “flush-deckers” due to their continuous decks from bow to stern. They were heavily mass-produced during World War 1 as convoy escorts. 12 years after the last Clemson Class Destroyer was commissioned, a new kind of Destroyer emerged. The Farragut Class featured a brand new dual-purpose Main Battery gun as well as centralized Torpedo Tubes. The Mahan through Fletcher Classes followed the same general idea of the Farragut Class. These Destroyers made up the backbone of the US Destroyer Fleet during World War 2. During World War 2, the Allen M. Sumner Class was designed and most of the ships were commissioned before the end of World War 2. The Gearing Class was a slight variation of the Allen M. Sumner Class’ design, the Gearing Class was introduced at the very end of World War 2, with ships serving into the late 20th Century. The Forrest Sherman Class was a revolutionary change from the previous Classes due to their focus on rapid-firing Main Battery guns. The Forrest Sherman Class also served into the late 20th Century.

The Farragut Class was the United States’ first Guided Missile Destroyers. They were quickly followed by the Charles F. Adams Class and served until the very late 20th Century. The Spruance and Kidd Class Destroyers were built in the 1970s and were decommissioned in the very late 20th Century, the Kidd Class was sold to Taiwan where they still serve today. The Arleigh Burke Class was brought into service in the 1990s, and is the most numerous Class of Guided Missile Destroyers to date. The Zumwalt Class is a next-generation Destroyer Class that has very advanced technology and equipment. Both the Arleigh Burke and Zumwalt Classes are in active service with the United States today.

In the early 1930s, the United States was looking to create Destroyer Leaders to lead other Destroyers instead of handing that role to Light Cruisers, which were scarce. So, 2 Destroyer Leader Classes were built, the Somers Class built upon the preceding Porter Class by adding an additional four Torpedo Tubes. Two decades later, the Norfolk and Mitscher Classes were built as larger destroyers with differing armament. They served into the 1970s and were scrapped after decommissioning.