Benson class

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Benson- class
USS Benson (DD-421)
USS Benson (DD-421)
Overview
Type destroyer
units 30 built, 0 in service
Shipyard

Bethlehem Steel (various locations)

Namesake Admiral William S. Benson
period of service

US Navy: 1938–1947
other: through 1974

Technical specifications
Information applies to the type ship, later construction lots showed deviations
displacement

1620  ts (standard)
1515 ts (fully loaded)

length

106.1 m

width

11 m

Draft

3.6 m (standard)
5.4 m (max.)

crew

208 (276 in wartime)

drive

4 Babcock & Wilcox boilers,
2 General Electric geared turbines,
2 shafts , 50,000 hpw

speed

37.5  kn

Range

6000  nm (8820 km) at 15 knots

Armament

upon commissioning

  • 5 × 5 inches (127 mm) / 38 caliber Mk. 30 single turrets
  • 6 × 0.5 inch (12.7 mm) Mk. 2 machine guns
  • 10 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
  • 2 WaBo drainage racks

after reconstruction

The Benson-class destroyer was a destroyer class , which in World War II by the United States Navy was used.

The lead ship was the USS Benson (DD-421). The class consisted of 30 ships that were planned and constructed by Bethlehem Steel and put into service from 1938 to 1943. These ships were commissioned in two lots. The first batch of six ships was commissioned in fiscal 1938 and built at Bethlehem Steel in Quincy , Massachusetts and three state-owned US Navy shipyards ( Boston , Charleston and Puget Sound ). The remaining 24 ships were approved in 1941 and 1942 and built at Bethlehem Steel's shipyards in Quincy, San Francisco , San Pedro and Staten Island .

The ships of the Benson class were planned as an improvement on the Sims class , from which they mainly differed externally by the second funnel. They had a different arrangement of the drive, whereby a machine room and a boiler room with their own chimney were combined into one unit. This configuration was designed to prevent the ship from being immobilized by a single torpedo hit. These changes increased the displacement of the ships by around 60 tons.

During the World War four of the ships were destroyed, two by the Japanese and one by the Germans. The fourth loss was caused by a collision with a freighter. The remaining ships were decommissioned after the war or used as target ships.

The Benson class was supplemented by the Gleaves class . These destroyers were designed by Gibbs & Cox according to the same blueprints and only differed externally by the round funnels, which had flat sides in the Bensons.

Ships of the class

Identifier Surname   Keel laying     Launch   Commissioning Decommissioning fate
DD-421 Benson May 16,  1938 November 15, 1939 July 25, 1940 March 18, 1946  Awarded to Taiwan on February 26, 1954, scrapped in 1974
DD-422 Mayo May 16,  1938 March 26, 1940 September 21,  1940 March 18, 1946  Sold for scrapping on May 8, 1972
DD-425 Madison September 19,  1938 October 20,  1939 August 6,  1940 March 13,  1946  Sunk October 14, 1969 as a target ship.
DD-426 Lansdale December 19,  1938 October 30, 1939 17th September 1940 - Sunk by German air raids on April 20, 1944 off the Algerian coast
DD-427 Hilary P. Jones - December 14,  1939 September 6,  1940 February 6,  1947  Awarded to Taiwan on February 26, 1954, scrapped in 1974
DD-428 Charles F. Hughes - May 16, 1940 September 5, 1940 March 18, 1946  Sunk March 16, 1969 as a target ship.
DD-459 Laffey January 13, 1941 October 30, 1941 March 31, 1942 -  Sunk by Japanese battleship on November 13, 1942.
DD-460 Woodworth April 30, 1941 November 29, 1941 April 30, 1942 April 11, 1946 Handed over to the Italian Navy on June 11, 1951, decommissioned and scrapped in January 1971.
DD-491 Farenholt - November 19, 1941 April 2, 1942 April 26, 1946 Sold for scrapping in November 1972
DD-492 Bailey January 29, 1941 December 19, 1941 May 11, 1942 May 2, 1946  Sunk 4 November 1969 as a target ship.
DD-598 Bancroft - December 31, 1941 April 30, 1942 February 1, 1946 Broken down in 1973
DD-599 Barton May 20, 1941 January 31, 1942 May 29, 1942 -  Sunk by Japanese destroyer Amatsukaze on November 4, 1942 off Guadalcanal.
DD-600 Boyle - June 15, 1942 August 15, 1942 March 29, 1946  Sunk as a target ship on May 3, 1973.
DD-601 Champlin - July 25, 1942 September 12, 1942 January 31, 1947  Sold for scrapping on May 8, 1972
DD-602 Meade March 25, 1941 February 15, 1942 June 22, 1942 June 17, 1946 sunk as a target ship in February 1973.
DD-603 Murphy May 19, 1941 April 29, 1942 July 25, 1942 March 9, 1946 October 21,  1943 Loss of bow section after collision with tanker Bulkoil, returned to service after repairs.  Sold for scrapping on October 6, 1972
DD-604 Parker June 9, 1941 May 12, 1942 August 31, 1942 January 31, 1947 Sold for scrapping in 1973
DD-605 Caldwell - January 15, 1942 June 10, 1942 April 24, 1946  Sold for scrapping on November 4, 1966
DD-606 Coghlan - February 12, 1942 July 10, 1942 March 31, 1947 -
DD-607 Frazier - March 17, 1942 July 30, 1942 April 15, 1946  Sold for scrapping on October 6, 1972
DD-608 Gansevoort June 16, 1941 April 12, 1942 August 25, 1942 February 1, 1946  Sunk March 23, 1972 as a target ship.
DD-609 Gillespie - November 1, 1942 September 18, 1942 ?? April 17, 1946 Sunk in 1972 as a target ship.
DD-610 hobby - June 4, 1942 November 18, 1942 February 1, 1946  Sunk as a target ship on June 1, 1972.
DD-611 lime June 30, 1941 July 18, 1942 October 17, 1942 May 3, 1946 sunk as a target ship in March 1969.
DD-612 Kendrick - April 2, 1942 September 12, 1942 March 31, 1947 destroyed in tests at sea
DD-613 leaves May 1, 1941 April 28, 1942 October 24, 1942 February 2, 1946  Sold for scrapping on January 14, 1975
DD-614 MacKenzie May 29, 1941 June 27, 1942 November 21, 1942 February 4, 1946  Sunk on June 1, 1974 during fleet maneuvers
DD-615 McLanahan May 29, 1941 September 2, 1942 December 19, 1942 February 2, 1946 Sold for scrapping in 1974
DD-616 Nields June 15, 1942 October 1, 1942 January 15, 1943 March 26, 1946  Sold for scrapping on May 8, 1972
DD-617 Ordronaux July 25, 1942 November 9, 1942 February 13, 1943 January 1947 Sold for scrapping in 1973

literature

  • Norman Friedman, US Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History, Naval Institute Press, 1982, ISBN 978-0-87021-733-3

Web links