Benham-class destroyer

USS Benham, the lead ship of the class, in 1939
Class overview
Name:	Benham class
Builders:	Federal Shipbuilding Boston Navy Yard Philadelphia Naval Shipyard Norfolk Naval Shipyard Charleston Navy Yard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	Somers class
Succeeded by:	Sims class
Built:	1936–39
In commission:	1939–46
Completed:	10
Lost:	2
Retired:	8
General characteristics
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	1,491 tons (standard) 1,888 tons (normal) 2,250 tons (full load)
Length:	340 ft 9 in (103.86 m)
Beam:	35 ft 6 in (10.82 m)
Draught:	13 ft 3 in (4.04 m)
Installed power:	3 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 2 geared steam turbines, 49,250 shp (36,730 kW) on trials
Propulsion:	2 shafts
Speed:	37.9 knots (70.2 km/h; 43.6 mph) on trials
Range:	5,390 nmi (9,980 km; 6,200 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement:	9 officers, 175 enlisted (peacetime) 16 officers, 235 enlisted (wartime)
Armament:	As built: 4 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber guns 4 × .50 caliber machine guns (12.7 mm) 4 × quad 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 2 × depth charge racks

The Benham class of ten destroyers was built for the United States Navy (USN). They were part of a series of USN destroyers limited to 1,500 tons standard displacement by the London Naval Treaty and built in the 1930s. The class was laid down in 1936-1937 and all were commissioned in 1939. Much of their design was based on the immediately preceding Gridley and Bagley-class destroyers. Like these classes, the Benhams were notable for including sixteen 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, the heaviest torpedo armament ever on US destroyers. They introduced a new high-pressure boiler that saved space and weight, as only three of the new boilers were required compared to four of the older designs. The class served extensively in World War II in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Pacific theaters, including Neutrality Patrols in the Atlantic 1940-1941. Sterett received the United States Presidential Unit Citation for the Battle of Guadalcanal and the Battle of Vella Gulf, and the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation for her World War II service. Two of the class were lost during World War II, three would be scrapped in 1947, while the remaining five ships would be scuttled after being contaminated from the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.