Caldwell class
.jpg) The Caldwell (DD-69)
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The Caldwell- class was a US Navy destroyer- class . In 1916 and 1920, six ships were built in five shipyards. Together with the 111 Wickes-class destroyers built later and 156 Clemson-class ships , they formed the so-called flush deck or four stack class , with three ships of the Caldwell class being completed as three-funnels.
Three ships of the class joined the Royal Navy through the destroyer-for-base agreement in the fall of 1940. They survived the war, even if in the end in secondary tasks.
The first smooth deckers
The destroyers built in 1916 and 1920 were the first smooth-deckers . This design was a reaction to the structural weakness in the forecastle of the Tucker class built previously . The forward deck jump has been improved to prevent the forward gun from being exposed to constant sea. The arrangement of their torpedo weapons and the rhombus-shaped arrangement of the guns were a weak point in the design and were also found in the successor classes ( Wickes and Clemson ). The two subsequent classes were produced in series production faster than the six prototypes.
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When the USS Manley (DD74) was delivered by the Bath Iron Works in October 1917 as the first ship of the class, many destroyers of the subsequent Wickes class , but also some of the Clemson class , were already under construction. The class was completed in two lots: The two three-chimneyers Conner and Stockton from Cramp and the Caldwell with four chimneys again from the Mare Island Navyyard as the lead ship of the class followed by January 1918 . With the four-chimney Craven from the Norfolk Navy Yard in October 1918 and the Gwinn from Todd in Tacoma with again three chimneys in March 1920, the last destroyers of the class were then delivered. The six destroyers were used by the USN until 1922 when they were put into reserve.
Caldwell and Gwin were eliminated from the London Conference of 1930 due to contractual ties in 1936 and 1937, respectively , when the US had to adjust its destroyer numbers to continue its new build program. Something similar happened with the Royal Navy, which also had a large number of destroyers scrapped, which concerned hardly used destroyers of the V- and W-class and primarily the S-class .
Manley was the only Caldwell- class ship to return to service in peace from 1930. In 1938/39, the Manley was the first of the `` flush-decker '' to be converted into a fast transporter (APD). There were removed and thus space for the transport of 200, the front boilers and chimneys Marines and four 11 m Higgins - assault boats created. From July 1942, the transporter was then used in the Pacific and was used in the landings on Guadalcanal and Kwajalein .
The three other destroyers of the class still in existence in 1940 were handed over to the Royal Navy as part of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement , which they put into service with 47 ships of the Wickes- class and the Clemson- class as Town- class .
The USS Conner was handed over to the Royal Navy at Halifax, which renamed the destroyer HMS Leeds (G27) . The destroyer moved to Great Britain in early November 1940, where it was converted for service in the RN. The destroyer was assigned to the Rosyth Command and secured British coastal escorts in the North Sea between the Thames estuary and the Firth of Forth and survived several air strikes. On April 20, 1942, the destroyer supported the Cotswold after a mine hit and towed the destroyer escort to Harwich . On the night of February 25, 1944, the old destroyer was able to repel the attack by German speedboats on the escort secured by it. Shortly before the end of the war in Europe, the Leeds was assigned to the reserve due to increasingly frequent defects in Grangemouth , but was only sold for demolition in March 1947, which did not take place until January 1949.
The sister ship USS Stockton was also handed over to the Royal Navy, which renamed the old destroyer HMS Ludlow (G57). This destroyer also moved to Great Britain at the beginning of November 1940, where conversion should take place and was used on the British east coast. When landing at Gold Beach during Operation Overlord on June 6, 1944, the HMS Ludlow is said to have been used. After the end of the war in Europe, the destroyer was decommissioned and anchored at Broadsands near the island of Fidra (North Berwick) in June 1945. At the beginning of July 1945 the ship was declared a total loss and destined for demolition on site. This never seems to have happened, as remains of the ship can still be seen today at low tide at 56.03N 0.45W.
The USS Craven had been renamed Conway in the reserve as early as 1935 to use the original name for a new destroyer. In the Royal Navy, the destroyer was renamed HMS Lewes (G68) . Before the conversion work was completed, the destroyer was badly damaged in an air raid on the naval shipyard in Devonport on April 22, 1941 and was therefore not ready for use until February 1942. At the end of the year, the old destroyer was withdrawn from the convoy protection and converted into a target ship for air attacks. From March 1943 the old destroyer moved with the WS 29 convoy to Simonstown . In January 1944, the Lewes is said to have been temporarily in Casablanca . In August 1944, the target ship moved to Ceylon for use with the Eastern Fleet , where it was occasionally used again to secure supply convoys. In February 1945 the Lewes then moved from Trincomalee to Fremantle together with the destroyer tender Tyne . From April to November 1945 the old destroyer from Sydney was used as a training target for the training of carrier pilots. Then still usable parts were removed from the ship and the remains of the ship sunk on May 25, 1946 off Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The ships of the class
| Surname | Shipyard | BNo. | start of building | Launch | finished | handing over | Royal Navy | Final fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
USS Manley (DD 74) , 1938 AG 28 , 1940 APD-1 |
Bath Iron Works | 70 | 08/22/16 | 08/23/17 | 10/15/17 | December 5, 1945 out of service, 1946 demolished | ||
| USS Stockton (DD 73) | Cramp & Sons | 437 | 16.10.16 | 07/17/17 | 11/26/17 | 10.40 | HMS Ludlow (G57) | Sunk 15 July 1945 as a target |
| USS Caldwell (DD 69) | Mare Island Navy Yard | 12/8/16 | 07/10/17 | 1.12.17 | 06/27/22 Reserve | Scrapped in 1936 | ||
| USS Conner (DD 72) | Cramp & Sons | 436 | 16.10.16 | 08/21/17 | 01/12/18 | 10.40 | HMS Leeds (G27) | March 1947 demolition |
| USS Conway (DD 70) 1935: Craven | Norfolk Navy Yard | 16.10.16 | 06/29/18 | 10/19/18 | 10.40 | HMS Lewes (G68) | Sunk off Sydney on May 25, 1946 | |
| USS Gwin (DD 71) | Todd , Tacoma | 87 | 06/21/17 | 12/22/17 | 03/20/20 | 06/28/22 Reserve | Scrapped in 1937 |
Pictures of the class
USS Caldwell (DD 69)
HMS Lewes (G68) ex USS Conway (DD 70), Craven
USS Gwin (DD 71)
HMS Leeds (G27) ex USS Conner (DD 72)
HMS Ludlow (G57) ex USS Stockton (DD 73)
USS Manley (DD 74)
USS Manley (APD-1) 1940
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literature
- Bernard Fitzsimons: The Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare . Phoebus, London 1978.
- Paul H. Silverstone: US Warships of World War I . Ian Allan, 1970.
- Paul H. Silverstone: US Warships of World War II . Doubleday and Company, 1968.
- John Campbell: Naval Weapons of World War Two . Naval Institute Press, 1985, ISBN 0-87021-459-4 .
Web links
- Caldwell -class destroyers at Destroyer History Foundation (English)
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