Fletcher-class destroyer

Fletcher-class destroyer

USS Fletcher in her original layout, 1942
Class overview
Name:	Fletcher-class destroyer
Operators:	United States Navy Argentine Navy Brazilian Navy Chilean Navy Colombian Navy Hellenic Navy Italian Navy JMSDF Mexican Navy Peruvian Navy ROKN Spanish Navy ROCN Turkish Navy West German Navy
Preceded by:	Gleaves class
Succeeded by:	Allen M. Sumner class
Built:	3 March 1941 to 22 February 1945
In commission:	4 June 1942 to 1971 (USN), 2001 (Mexico)
Completed:	175
Cancelled:	11
Lost:	19, plus 6 not repaired
Preserved:	4 USS Cassin Young USS The Sullivans USS Kidd HNS Velos
General characteristics
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	2,050 tons (standard) 2,500 tons (full load)
Length:	376.5 ft (114.8 m)
Beam:	39.5 ft (12.0 m)
Draft:	17.5 ft (5.3 m)
Propulsion:	60,000 shp (45 MW); 4 oil-fired boilers; 2 geared steam turbines; 2 screws
Speed:	36.5 knots (67.6 km/h; 42.0 mph)
Range:	5,500 miles at 15 knots (8,850 km at 28 km/h)
Complement:	329 officers and men
Armament:	5 × single 5 inch (127 mm)/38 caliber guns 6–10 × 40 mm Bofors AA guns (early ships carried 4 × 1.1 inch (28 mm) automatic cannon (1 × 4)) 7–10 × 20 mm Oerlikon autocannons, 10 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2 × 5; Mark 15 torpedoes) 6 × K-gun depth charge projectors 2 × depth charge racks

The Fletcher class was a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. The class was designed in 1939, as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlier destroyer leader types of the Porter and Somers classes. Some went on to serve during the Korean War and into the Vietnam War.

The United States Navy commissioned 175 Fletcher-class destroyers between 1942 and 1944, more than any other destroyer class, and the design was generally regarded as highly successful. Fletchers had a design speed of 38 knots, and an armament of five 5" guns in single mounts with 10 21" torpedoes in two quintuple centerline mounts. The Allen M. Sumner and Gearing classes were Fletcher derivatives.

The long-range Fletcher-class ships performed every task asked of a destroyer, from anti-submarine warfare and anti-aircraft warfare to surface action. They could cover the vast distances required by fleet actions in the Pacific. In fact, they served almost exclusively in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II, during which they accounted for 29 Imperial Japanese Navy submarines sunk. In a massive effort, the Fletchers were built by shipyards across the United States and, after World War II ended, 11 were sold to countries they had been built to fight against: Italy, Germany, and Japan, as well as other navies, where they would go on to have even longer, distinguished careers.