Gearing-class destroyer

Gearing-class destroyer

USS Gearing in 1960
Class overview
Name:	Gearing class
Builders:	Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine Bethlehem Steel, Fore River Shipyard Bethlehem Steel, San Francisco Bethlehem Steel, San Pedro, Los Angeles, California Boston Navy Yard Charleston Navy Yard Consolidated Steel, Orange, Texas Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny, N.J. Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle
Operators:	United States Navy  Republic of China Navy  Hellenic Navy  Republic of Korea Navy  Spanish Navy  Turkish Navy  Pakistan Navy  Argentine Navy  Brazilian Navy  Mexican Navy  Ecuadorian Navy  Islamic Republic of Iran Navy
Preceded by:	Allen M. Sumner class
Succeeded by:	Mitscher class
Planned:	156
Completed:	98
Cancelled:	58
Active:	1
Laid up:	2
Retired:	98
Preserved:	7
General characteristics as originally built
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	2,616 tons standard; 3,460 tons full load
Length:	390.5 ft (119.0 m)
Beam:	40.9 ft (12.5 m)
Draft:	14.3 ft (4.4 m)
Propulsion:	2 shaft; General Electric steam turbines; 4 boilers; 60,000 shp
Speed:	36.8 knots (68.2 km/h)
Range:	4,500 nmi (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement:	350 as designed
Armament:	As built: 3 × twin 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal guns 12 × 40 mm Bofors AA guns (2 × 4 & 2 × 2) 11 × 20 mm Oerlikon cannons 2 × depth charge racks 6 × K-gun depth charge throwers 10 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes Typical by 1950: 6 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal guns (in 3 × 2 Mk 38 DP mounts) 6 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal guns (2 × 2, 2 × 1) 2 × Hedgehog ASW weapons 1 × depth charge rack 6 × K-gun depth charge throwers Typical after FRAM I (1960-65): 4 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal guns (127 mm) (in 2 × 2 Mk 38 DP mounts) 1 × ASROC 8-cell launcher 2 × triple Mark 32 torpedo tubes for Mark 44 torpedoes 1 × Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter (DASH) Variable Depth Sonar (VDS)

The Gearing class is a group of 98 destroyers built for the U.S. Navy during and shortly after World War II. The Gearing design was a minor modification of the immediately preceding Allen M. Sumner class. The hull was lengthened 14 ft (4.3 m) amidships, creating more storage space for fuel, thus giving the ships a longer operating range than the Allen M. Sumners.

The first Gearings were not ready for service until mid-1945, so they saw relatively little wartime service. They continued serving, with a series of upgrades, until the 1970s. At that time many were sold to other nations, where they served many more years.

Ten Gearing-class ships still exist. ARM Netzahualcóyotl (ex-Steinaker), was active in the Mexican Navy until 2014. As of April 2012 two were laid up in non-operational condition in Kaohsiung, Taiwan: ROCS Chien Yang (ex-James E. Kyes) and ROCS Sheng Yang, (ex-Power). The other seven are museum ships: ROKS Kang Won, (ex-William R. Rush), near Busan, South Korea; TCG Gayret, (ex-Eversole), in Izmit, Turkey; ROKS Jeong Buk, (ex-Everett F. Larson), near Gangneung, South Korea; ROCS Te Yang, (ex-Sarsfield), in Tainan, Taiwan; USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. in Fall River, Massachusetts; ROKS Jeong Ju, (ex-Rogers), near Cheonan, South Korea and USS Orleck in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

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Wikipedia