Clemson Class Destroyer (1918)

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The Clemson class destroyers were ordered in massive numbers for the U.S. Navy to meet wartime needs for antisubmarine escorts, but only nine were launched and one were commissioned before the Armistice was signed. They differed from the previous Wickes class by having their range extended 35%, thanks to greater oil bunkerage on an increased displacement.

Design & Construction

Performance

Armament

Main Battery

Most were fitted in the customary "flush decker" manner:

  • one 4-in/50cal gun forward
  • two 4-in/50cal guns on each side at the shoulder
  • one 4-in/50cal gun right aft

In Hatfield, Brooks, Gilmer, Fox and Kane, the guns were larger: 5-in/51cal. In Hovey and Long the mounts were twin-barrel Mark 44 4-in/50cal.

Other Guns

  • one 3-in/23cal A.A. gun on aft deckhouse (sometimes swapped with after 4-in gun)

Torpedoes

  • four triple torpedo tube mounts situated two to each side toward the aft

Depth Charges

This varied somewhat, but generally:

  • one-two depth charge racks aft
  • Y-gun projector forward of aft deck house

Fire Control

Torpedo Control

Searchlights

See Also

Footnotes

Bibliography

  • Gray, Randal (editor) (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
  • Friedman, Norman (1985). U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. (on Amazon.com).


Clemson Class Destroyer
Clemson Dahlgren Goldsborough Semmes Satterlee
Mason Graham Abel P. Upshur Hunt Welborn C. Wood
George E. Badger Branch Herndon Dallas Chandler
Southard Hovey Long Broome Alden
Smith Thompson Barker Tracy Borie John D. Edwards
Whipple Parrott Edsall MacLeish Simpson
Bulmer McCormick Stewart Pope Peary
Pillsbury Ford Truxtun Paul Jones Hatfield
Brooks Gilmer Fox Kane Humphreys
McFarland James K. Paulding Overton Sturtevant Childs
King Sands Williamson Reuben James Bainbridge
Goff Barry Hopkins Lawrence Belknap
McCook McCalla Rodgers Ingram Bancroft
Welles Aulick Turner Gillis Delphy
McDermut Laub McLanahan Edwards Greene
Ballard Shubrick Bailey Thornton Morris
Tingey Swasey Meade Sinclair McCawley
Moody Henshaw Meyer Doyen Sharkey
Toucey Breck Isherwood Case Lardner
Putnam Worden Flusser Dale Converse
Reid Billingsley Charles Ausburn Osborne Chauncey
Fuller Percival John Francis Burnes Farragut Somers
Stoddert Reno Farquhar Thompson Kennedy
Paul Hamilton William Jones Woodbury S. P. Lee Nicholas
Young Zeilin Yarborough La Vallette Sloat
Wood Shirk Kidder Selfridge Marcus
Mervine Chase Robert Smith Mullany Coghlan
Preston Lamson Bruce Hull Macdonough
Farenholt Sumner Corry Melvin Litchfield
Zane Wasmuth Trever Perry Decatur
  Hulbert Noa William B. Preston  
  Preble Sicard Pruitt  
<– Wickes Class Destroyers (US)