Caldwell-class destroyer

USS Caldwell in harbor in 1919
Class overview
Name:	Caldwell class
Builders:	Mare Island Navy Yard Norfolk Navy Yard Seattle Dry Dock Company William Cramp & Sons Bath Iron Works
Operators:	United States Navy  Royal Navy
Preceded by:	Sampson class
Succeeded by:	Wickes class
Built:	1916–20
In commission:	1917–45
Completed:	6
Retired:	6
General characteristics
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	1,020 tons (standard) 1,125 tons (normal)
Length:	308 ft (94 m) waterline 315 ft 6 in (96.16 m) overall
Beam:	31 ft 3 in (9.53 m)
Draft:	8 ft (2.4 m) 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m) max
Propulsion:	(DD 69-71, 74) Thornycroft boilers Parsons geared steam turbines two shafts (20,000 shp (15 MW)) (DD 72-73) White-Forster boilers Parsons direct drive turbines three shafts (18,500 hp (13.8 MW))
Speed:	(DD 69-71, 74) 32 kn (59 km/h) (DD 72-73) 30 kn (56 km/h)
Complement:	146
Armament:	4 × 4 in (102 mm)/50 caliber guns 1 × 3 in (76 mm)/23 caliber gun 12 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (4 × 3)

The Caldwell class of destroyers served in the United States Navy near the end of World War I. Four served as convoy escorts in the Atlantic; the other two were completed too late for wartime service. Two were deleted during the 1930s, but four survived to serve throughout World War II, three of these in service with the Royal Navy under the Destroyers for Bases Agreement.

The six Caldwell-class torpedo boat destroyers were authorised by Congress under the Act of 3 March 1915, "to have a speed of not less than thirty knots per hour [sic] and to cost, exclusive of armor and armament, not to exceed $925,000.00 each ...Provided, that three of said torpedo-boats herein authorised shall be built on the Pacific Coast."

Built from 1916 to 1918, the six ships of the Caldwell class were the first of 279 ordered (6 of which were cancelled) to a flush-decked design to remove the forecastle break weakness of the preceding Sampson class and other "thousand tonners". They were effectively prototypes of the mass production Wickes and Clemson-class vessels which followed them, although somewhat slower (30–32 knots (56–59 km/h) vs. 35 knots (65 km/h)) and differing in some details. The forward sheer of the Caldwell class was improved to keep "A" mount from being constantly washed out; however, this was unsuccessful. The Caldwells had a cutaway stern rather than the cruiser stern of the later ships, and thus had a tighter turning radius than their successors. The armament of the Sampsons was retained, but the broadside 4-inch (102 mm) guns were relocated to "bandstands" aft of the bridge. There were differences in appearance; Caldwell, Craven and Manley were built with four "stacks" (funnels), while Gwin, Conner and Stockton had only three. The middle stack of the three-stack ships was wider due to combining two boiler uptakes. Once the mass-production destroyers made the design prevalent, the Caldwells and their successors became known as "flush-deck" or "four-stack" destroyers.