Mitscher class
Mitscher class | |
---|---|
USS Wilkinson (DL-5) at sea, late 1950s |
|
Overview | |
Type | destroyer |
units | 4th |
Order | August 3, 1948 |
Namesake | Admiral Marc Andrew Mitscher |
1. Period of service | |
period of service |
1953-1978 |
Whereabouts | Wrecked |
Technical specifications | |
displacement |
3331-4857 tons |
length |
151 meters |
width |
15 meters |
Draft |
8 meters |
crew |
403 officers and men |
drive |
2 propellers, driven by 4 steam boilers; 80,000 wave horsepower |
speed |
30 knots |
Range |
4500 nautical miles at 20 knots |
Armament |
2 × 127 mm |
The Mitscher class was a class of four experimental destroyers commissioned by the United States Navy shortly after the end of World War II . Designed to be larger than any previous destroyer, the ships would have been the first post-war destroyer class if they had not been reclassified as Flotilla Command Destroyers (DL) during their construction . Of the class launched between 1953 and 1954, two units remained in service until 1969 and were sold for scrapping in the 1970s. The other two units were converted into guided missile destroyers and remained in service until 1978. They were sold for scrapping in 1980.
description
All four Mitscher-class ships were ordered on August 3, 1948 and named after well-known American admirals of World War II. They displace a minimum of 3331 tons, 3642 tons by default and 4855 tons fully loaded. They had a length of 151 meters, a width of 15 meters and a draft of 8 meters. All ships were equipped with partially different systems in order to be able to test them in use for future destroyer classes. At the beginning of the 1960s, modernization took place as part of the Class Improvement Program (CIP), with the steam boilers also being replaced on the first two ships of the class.
Web links
- The Mitscher class on Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
- The Mitscher class on Gyrodynehelicopters.com. Retrieved August 12, 2012.