Gleaves class

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Gleaves class
USS Gleaves (DD-423)
USS Gleaves (DD-423)
Overview
Type destroyer
units 66 built, 0 in service
Shipyard

Bath Iron Works
Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Boston Navy Yard
Charleston Navy Yard
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
Norfolk Naval Shipyard

Namesake Admiral Albert Gleaves
period of service

US Navy: 1940–1956
other: through 1974

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

1630  ts

length

106.15 m

width

11 m

Draft

4.01 m (standard)
5.4 m (max.)

crew

278

drive

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

speed

37.4  kn

Range

6500  nm at 12 knots (12,000 km) at 22 km / h

Armament

upon commissioning

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

after reconstruction

The Gleaves class was a class of destroyer , in the Second World War by the United States Navy was used.

The lead ship was the USS Gleaves (DD-423). The class consisted of 66 ships planned and constructed by Gibbs & Cox and put into service from 1938 to 1943.

The Gleaves class complemented the Benson class . These Gleaves destroyers were designed by Gibbs & Cox according to the same blueprints as the Benson class and only differed externally by the round funnels, which had flat sides in the Bensons. That is why the term Benson / Gleaves class is occasionally found in the literature.

At the beginning of the Pacific War, i.e. the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, only twelve of the 66 ships of the Gleaves class were in service and six were under construction. In order to bridge the time until the Fletcher class was ready for series production , a further 48 ships were built at an accelerated rate.

These 66 ships were produced at different shipyards:
Bath Iron Works in Bath (Maine) supplied the type ship and seven other ships,
Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Kearny (New Jersey) with 26 ships the largest part,
Seattle Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation in Seattle delivered ten copies
as well as five US Navy shipyards:
Boston with ten ships,
Charleston with seven ships,
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard with two ships,
Norfolk Naval Shipyard with two ships and
Puget Sound in Bremerton (Washington) with one ship.

drive

The drive of the Gleaves and Benson classes is identical, only the shape of the chimneys varies (round cross-section in the Gleaves class versus an almost oval cross-section in the Benson class). During the construction of the 48 ships of the financial years 41 and 42, there were minor design adjustments, deviating from the adaptations of the ships of the Benson class.

Both classes had four Babcock & Wilcox boilers that produced steam at 454 ° C (originally only 400 ° C was planned) at a pressure of 4,100 kPa. The steam was fed to two Westinghouse turbines that drove two propellers via a gearbox with double reduction.

Armament

Delivery condition of the first ships up to DD-453

5-inch or 127-mm guns

The ships of this class were equipped with five multi-purpose cannons with a caliber of 127 mm, which were built into individual towers and controlled by a radar-based Mark 37 Gun Fire Control System . The gun barrels were 5.68 m long and weighed 1.8 tons. The entire tower weighed 18.5 tons. The slewing speed of the towers built by Ford Motor Company was 28.75 degrees per second, the towers from General Electric slew at 30 degrees per second.

5 inch gun turrets

There were nine crew members in each turret to operate them, four more in the ammunition room under the gun, where the grenades were lifted from the magazine in the ship's hull. The gun had to be hand loaded, but this could be done at any angle, which increased the rate of fire.

The cadence was usually 15 to 20 rounds per minute, well-rehearsed teams achieved up to 30 rounds per minute. Either Mark 49 fragmentation grenades for air defense or armor-piercing Mark 46 grenades were fired. At a distance of ten kilometers, the 24.5 kg armor-piercing shells, which left the gun barrel at 792 m / s, could penetrate up to 51 mm of hull armor, their maximum range at 45 ° barrel elevation was over eight nautical miles. The 25 kg anti-aircraft grenades had a muzzle velocity of 762 m / s and a peak height of almost twelve kilometers. After firing, the pipe receded up to 38 cm before it was hydraulically damped.

Torpedo tubes

For use against ships were ten 21-inch (533-mm) torpedo tubes in two rotating groups of five on the superstructure amidships. The torpedoes weighed 1,004 kg and had a 353 kg warhead with an impact fuse. The range was about 7.5 nautical miles, the maximum speed of the torpedoes was 45 knots. Course, depth and speed were set before the weapon was fired.

Depth charges

Water bombs in a drainage rail

2 drainage rails for depth charges .

More weapons

6 12.7mm automatic cannons Browning M2 .

Conversion or later built ships from DD-453

Due to the experience in the submarine war in the Atlantic and the attacks of the Japanese air force in the Pacific, an armament was now demanded that enabled more protection from or better possibilities for fighting submarines and aircraft.

Aircraft combat

Bofors MK-12 quadruple cannon fires

The number of 127-mm multi-purpose cannons was reduced to four, but
two 40-mm twin and
seven 20-mm Oerlikon automatic cannons were installed in addition to combat aircraft .

1942, Oerlikon on board the HMS Dido

Submarine hunting armament

Barrel-shaped water bomb on a launcher with a fixed throwing angle, in front one of the two driving hydraulic rams . From the British ship HMS Mendip in 1940.

In addition to the two existing drainage rails for depth charges, four to six K-Gun depth charge launchers were also installed for extended anti-submarine combat.

Conversions

In 1944 and 1945, 24 Gleaves class ships were converted into destroyer-deminers.

Twelve ships of the Atlantic Fleet (DD 454 to 458, 461, 462, 464, 621, 625, 636 and 637) were built in 1944, twelve ships of the Pacific Fleet (DD 489, 490, 493-496, 618, 627 and 632 to 635) were Rebuilt in 1945.

The ships received magnetic and acoustic mine clearing equipment as well as two times two 40 mm Bofors cannons, at the same time the number of 127 mm cannons was reduced to three, the torpedo tubes were expanded and the K-Gun depth charges were reduced to two. The ships of the Atlantic Fleet also got seven 20-mm cannons, the ships of the Pacific Fleet instead received a total of four times two 40-mm Bofors cannons and five 20-mm cannons in two double and two single guns.

Twelve converted ships were still in service after the end of the Second World War, but it was found during the operations in the Korean War that their high crew strength was ineffective for the purpose - compared to ships specially built for this purpose. As a result, these ships were decommissioned from 1954 to 1956.

Services in the US Navy and other navies

Of the total of 66 ships built, six were lost in the Pacific, two off Normandy and three in the Mediterranean due to enemy action. The Ingraham DD-444 collided with an oil tanker in 1942 and the Turner DD-648 sank in 1944 after explosions inside.

After the war, twelve to were deminers converted ships in service, the rest was gradually the reserve fleet assigned to the Hobson DD-464 sank in 1952 after a collision with the USS Wasp (CV-18) , the Baldwin DD-624 ran at Towing aground.

Eleven ships were made available to other navies between 1949 and 1959:
four ships from Turkey (USS Buchanan -> Gelibolu, Landsdowne -> Gaziantep, Lardner-> Gemlik, McCalla -> Giresun),
two ships from Greece (USS Eberle -> Niki, USS Ludlow -> Doxa),
one ship Italy (USS Nicholson -> Aviere),
two ships Taiwan (USS Plunkett -> Nan Yang, USS Rodman -> Hsien Yang),
two ships Japan (USS Ellyson -> Asakaze, USS Macomb - > Hatakaze, later also Hsien Yang)

In the 1950s, a modernization of the ships was considered, but only carried out for the ships that were sold to other countries.

Ships of the class

Identifier Surname Manufacturer   Keel laying     Launch   Commissioning Decommissioning fate
DD-423 Gleaves Bath Iron Works , Bath (Maine) May 16, 1938 December 9, 1939 June 14, 1940 May 8, 1946  Sold for scrapping on June 29, 1972
DD-424 Niblack Bath Iron Works , Bath (Maine) August 8,  1938 May 18, 1940 August 1,  1940 June 1946  Sold for scrapping August 16, 1973
DD-429 Livermore Bath Iron Works , Bath (Maine) March 6,  1939 August 3, 1940 October 7,  1940 January 24,  1947  Sold for scrapping on October 14, 1961
DD-430 Eberle Bath Iron Works , Bath (Maine) April 12,  1939 September 14, 1940 4th December 1940 June 3, 1946 Handed over to the Greek Navy as Niki on January 22nd, 1951 , scrapped in 1972
DD-431 Plunkett Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey March 1,  1939 March 7,  1940 17th July  1940 May 3,  1946 Handed over  to the Taiwanese Navy on February 16, 1959 , scrapped in 1975
DD-432 Kearny Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey March 1, 1939 March 9, 1940 September 13, 1940 March 7, 1946  Sold for scrapping on October 6, 1972
DD-433 Gwin Boston Navy Yard , Boston, Massachusetts June 1, 1939 May 25, 1940 January 15, 1941 - July 13,  1943 sunk at the Battle of Kolombangara
DD-434 Meredith Boston Navy Yard , Boston, Massachusetts June 1, 1939 April 24, 1940 March 1, 1941 - October 15, 1942 sunk by enemy action
DD-435 Grayson Charleston Navy Yard , Charleston, South Carolina July 17, 1939 August 7, 1940 February 14, 1941 February 4, 1947 Sold for scrapping on June 14, 1974
DD-436 Monssen Puget Sound Navy Yard , Bremerton, Washington July 12, 1939 March 16, 1940 March 14, 1941 - November 13,  1942 sunk in the first Battle of Guadalcanal
DD-437 Woolsey Bath Iron Works , Bath (Maine) October 9, 1939 February 12, 1941 May 7, 1941 February 6, 1947 Sold for scrapping on May 29, 1974 to Andy International, Inc
DD-438 Ludlow Bath Iron Works , Bath (Maine) December 18, 1939 November 11, 1940 March 5, 1941 May 20, 1946 Handed over  to the Greek Navy as Doxa on January 22, 1951 , scrapped in 1972
DD-439 Edison Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey March 18, 1940 November 23, 1940 January 31, 1941 May 18, 1946  Sold for scrapping on December 29, 1966
DD-440 Ericsson Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey March 18, 1940 November 23, 1940 March 13, 1941 March 15, 1946 November 17th  1970 as a target ship sunk
DD-441 Wilkes Boston Navy Yard , Boston, Massachusetts November 1, 1939 May 31, 1940 April 22, 1941 March 4, 1946  Sold for scrapping on June 29, 1972
DD-442 Nicholson Boston Navy Yard , Boston, Massachusetts November 1, 1939 May 31, 1940 June 3, 1941 February 26, 1946 Handed over  to the Italian Navy as Aviere on January 15, 1951 , sunk as a target ship in 1975
DD-443 Swanson Charleston Navy Yard , Charleston, South Carolina November 15, 1939 November 2, 1940 May 29, 1941 December 10, 1945  Sold for scrapping on June 29, 1972
DD-444 Ingraham Charleston Navy Yard , Charleston, South Carolina November 15, 1939 February 15, 1941 July 19, 1941 -  Sunk after an accident on August 22, 1942
DD-453 Bristol Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey December 20, 1940 July 25, 1941 October 22, 1941 - Sunk October 13,  1943 by U-371
DD-454 Ellyson Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey December 20, 1940 July 26, 1941 November 28, 1941 October 19, 1954 Surrendered  to the Japanese Navy as JDS Asakaze (DD-181) on October 19, 1954
DD-455 Hambleton Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey December 16, 1940 September 26, 1941 December 22, 1941 January 15, 1955  Sold for scrapping on November 22, 1972
DD-456 Rodman Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey December 16, 1940 September 26, 1941 April 29, 1942 July 28, 1955 Handed over  to the Taiwanese Navy as ROCS Hsien Yang (DD-16) on July 28, 1955 , sunk in 1969
DD-457 Emmons Bath Iron Works , Bath (Maine) November 14, 1940 August 23, 1941 December 5, 1941 - Sunk  by Kamikazes on April 6, 1945
DD-458 Macomb Bath Iron Works , Bath (Maine) September 3, 1940 September 23, 1941 January 26, 1942 October 19, 1954 October 19,  1954 to Japanese Navy as JDS Hatakaze (DD-182)
DD-461 Forrest Boston Navy Yard , Boston, Massachusetts January 6, 1941 June 14, 1941 January 13, 1942 November 30, 1945  Sold for scrapping on November 20, 1946
DD-462 Fitch Boston Navy Yard , Boston, Massachusetts January 6, 1941 June 14, 1941 February 3, 1942 February 24, 1956  Sunk as a target ship off Florida on November 15, 1973
DD-463 Corry Charleston Navy Yard , Charleston, South Carolina 4th September 1940 July 28, 1941 December 18, 1941 - Sunk  off Utah Beach June 6, 1944
DD-464 Hobson Charleston Navy Yard , Charleston, South Carolina November 14, 1940 September 8, 1941 January 22, 1942 - Sunk April 26,  1952 after colliding with USS Wasp (CV-18)
DD-483 Aaron Ward Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey February 11, 1941 November 22, 1941 March 4, 1942 -  Sunk near Guadalcanal on April 7, 1943
DD-484 Buchanan Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey February 11, 1941 November 22, 1941 March 21, 1942 May 21, 1946 April 28,  1949 to the Turkish Navy as TCG Gelibolu (D 346), scrapped in 1976
DD-485 Duncan Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey July 31, 1941 February 20, 1942 April 16, 1942 - October 12.  1942 in the Battle of Cape Esperance dropped
DD-486 Landdwone Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey July 31, 1941 February 20, 1942 April 29, 1942 May 2, 1946 June 10,  1949 to Turkish Navy as TCG Gaziantep (D 344), scrapped in 1973
DD-487 Lardner Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey September 15, 1941 March 20, 1942 May 13, 1942 May 16, 1946 June 10,  1949 to the Turkish Navy as TCG Gemlik (D 347), sunk as a target ship on November 21, 1982
DD-488 McCalla Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey September 15, 1941 March 20, 1942 May 27, 1942 May 17, 1946 April 29,  1949 to the Turkish Navy as TCG Giresun (D 345), scrapped in 1973
DD-489 Mervine Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey November 3, 1941 May 3, 1942 June 17, 1942 May 27, 1949  Sold for scrapping on October 27, 1969
DD-490 Quick Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey November 3, 1941 May 3, 1942 July 3, 1942 May 28, 1949  Sold for scrapping on August 27, 1973
DD-493 Carmick Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation May 29, 1941 March 8, 1942 December 28, 1942 February 15, 1954  Sold for scrapping August 7, 1972
DD-494 Doyle Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation May 26, 1941 March 17, 1942 January 27, 1943 May 19, 1955  Sold for scrapping on October 6, 1972
DD-495 Endicott Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation May 1, 1941 April 5, 1942 February 25, 1943 17th August 1955  Sold for scrapping on October 6, 1970
DD-496 McCook Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation May 1, 1941 April 30, 1942 March 15, 1943 May 27, 1949  Sold for scrapping on August 27, 1973
DD-497 Frankford Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation May 5, 1941 May 17, 1942 March 31, 1943 March 6, 1946  Sunk December 4th 1973 as a target ship
DD-618 Davison Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey February 26, 1942 July 19, 1942 September 11, 1942 June 24, 1949  Sold for scrapping on August 27, 1973
DD-619 Edwards Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey February 26, 1942 July 19, 1942 September 18, 1942 April 11, 1946  Sold for scrapping on August 27, 1973
DD-620 Glennon Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey March 25, 1942 August 26, 1942 October 8, 1942 -  Sunk in Normandy by German coastal battery on June 10, 1944
DD-621 Jeffers Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey March 25, 1942 August 26, 1942 November 5, 1942 May 23, 1955  Sold for scrapping on May 25, 1973
DD-622 Maddox Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey May 7, 1942 September 15, 1942 October 31, 1942 - Sunk off Sicily on July 10,  1943 after being bombed by Junkers Ju 88
DD-623 Nelson Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey May 7, 1942 September 15, 1942 November 26, 1942 January 1947  Sold for scrapping July 18, 1969
DD-624 Baldwin Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation July 19, 1941 June 14, 1942 April 30, 1943 June 20, 1946  Sunk June 5, 1961 after running aground off Montauk on April 15, 1961
DD-625 Harding Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation July 22, 1941 June 28, 1942 May 25, 1943 November 2, 1945  Sold for scrapping April 16, 1947
DD-626 Satterlee Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation September 10, 1941 July 17, 1942 July 1, 1943 March 16, 1946  Sold for scrapping on May 8, 1972
DD-627 Thompson Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation September 22, 1941 July 10, 1942 July 10, 1943 May 18, 1954  Sold for scrapping August 7, 1972
DD-628 Welles Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation September 27, 1941 September 7, 1942 August 16, 1943 February 4, 1946  Sold for scrapping July 18, 1969
DD-632 Cowie Boston Navy Yard , Boston, Massachusetts March 18, 1941 September 27, 1942 June 1, 1942 April 27, 1947  Sold for scrapping on February 22, 1972
DD-633 Knight Boston Navy Yard , Boston, Massachusetts March 18, 1941 September 27, 1942 June 23, 1942 March 19, 1947  Sunk October 27, 1967 as a target ship near San Diego
DD-634 Doran Boston Navy Yard , Boston, Massachusetts June 14, 1941 December 10, 1941 4th August 1942 January 29, 1947  Sold for scrapping on August 27, 1973
DD-635 Earle Boston Navy Yard , Boston, Massachusetts June 14, 1941 December 10, 1941 September 1, 1942 May 17, 1947  Sold for scrapping in October 1970
DD-636 butler Philadelphia Naval Shipyard , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania September 16, 1941 February 12, 1942 August 15, 1942 November 8, 1945  Sold for scrapping January 10, 1948
DD-637 Gherardi Philadelphia Naval Shipyard , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania September 16, 1941 February 12, 1942 September 15, 1942 17th December 1955  Sunk as a target ship near Puerto Rico on June 3, 1973
DD-638 Herndon Norfolk Naval Shipyard , Portsmouth, Virginia August 26, 1941 February 2, 1942 December 20, 1942 January 28, 1946  Sunk as a target ship off Florida on May 24, 1973
DD-639 Shubrick Norfolk Naval Shipyard , Portsmouth, Virginia February 17, 1942 April 18, 1942 February 7, 1943 November 16, 1945 Canceled September 28,  1947 from National Metal and Steel Corporation , Terminal Island , Los Angeles
DD-640 Beatty Charleston Navy Yard , North Charleston, South Carolina May 1, 1941 December 20, 1941 May 7, 1942  Sunk off Algeria on November 6, 1943 after a German air raid
DD-641 Tillman Charleston Navy Yard , North Charleston, South Carolina May 1, 1941 December 20, 1941 June 4, 1942 February 6, 1947  Sold for scrapping on May 8, 1972
DD-645 Stevenson Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey July 23, 1942 November 11, 1942 December 15, 1942 April 27, 1946  Sold for scrapping on June 2, 1970
DD-646 Stockton Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey July 24, 1942 November 11, 1942 January 11, 1943 May 16, 1946  Sold for scrapping on May 25, 1973
DD-647 Thorn Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey November 15, 1942 February 28, 1943 April 1, 1943 May 6, 1946 Sunk August 22,  1974 as a target ship off Jacksonville, Florida
DD-648 Gymnast Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny, New Jersey November 16, 1942 February 28, 1943 April 15, 1943  Sunk in New York City on January 3, 1944 after explosions inside the ship

Trivia

In 1954 the novel The Caine Was Her Fate was filmed by Herman Wouk . The Caine was portrayed by the USS Thompson and the USS Doyle in this film , although the plot of the book is actually set on a World War I destroyer such as the Wickes or Clemson-class .

In the musical On the Town , the USS Nicholson can be seen in the opening and closing scenes .

literature

  • Norman Friedman: US Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Md. 1982, ISBN 0-87021-733-X .
  • Norman Friedman: US Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History (Revised Edition) . Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 2004, ISBN 1-55750-442-3 .
  • Robert Gardiner, Roger Chesneau: Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946 . Conway Maritime Press, London 1980, ISBN 0-8317-0303-2 .
  • Robert Gardiner, Stephen Chumbley: Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995 . Conway Maritime Press, London 1995, ISBN 1-55750-132-7 .
  • Silverstone, Paul H .: US Warships of World War II . Ian Allan Ltd, London 1965, ISBN 0-7110-0157-X .
  • K. Jack Bauer, Stephen S. Roberts: Register of Ships of the US Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants . Greenwood Press, Westport (Connecticut) 1991, ISBN 0-313-26202-0 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bauer and Roberts, pp. 188-191.
  2. ↑ Terzibaschitsch: Combat systems of the US Navy. Koehler Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-7822-0806-4 , p. 16ff.

Web links