Gridley-class destroyer

USS Gridley (DD-380) on trials in 1937
Class overview
Name:	Gridley-class destroyer
Builders:	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation: Fore River Shipyard Union Iron Works (former name of Bethlehem San Francisco)
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	Mahan class
Succeeded by:	Bagley class
Built:	1935–38
In commission:	1937–46
Completed:	4
Retired:	4
General characteristics
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	1590 tons standard, 2219 tons full load
Length:	340 ft 10 in (103.89 m)
Beam:	35 ft 10 in (10.92 m)
Draft:	12 ft 9 in (3.89 m)
Installed power:	4 Yarrow boilers, 2 Bethlehem Parsons-type geared steam turbines, 47,000 shp (35,000 kW)
Propulsion:	2 shafts
Speed:	38.5 knots (71.3 km/h; 44.3 mph)
Range:	5,520 nautical miles (10,220 km; 6,350 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement:	8 officers, 150 enlisted (peacetime) 250 (wartime)
Armament:	As built: 4 × 5 inch (127 mm)/38 caliber guns 4 × .50 caliber machine guns (12.7 mm) 16 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (4 × 4) 2 × depth charge racks Circa 1943: 4 × 5 inch (127 mm)/38 caliber guns 7 × 20 mm Oerlikon cannon (0.8 in) 16 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (4 × 4) 4 × K-gun depth charge throwers 2 × depth charge racks

The Gridley-class destroyers were a class of four 1500-ton destroyers in the United States Navy. 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 first two ships were laid down on 3 June 1935 and commissioned in 1937. The second two were laid down in March 1936 and commissioned in 1938. Based on the preceding Mahan-class destroyers with somewhat different machinery, they had the same hull but had only a single stack and mounted sixteen 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, an increase of four. To compensate for the increased torpedo armament weight, the gun armament was slightly reduced from five 5"/38 caliber guns (127 mm) to four.USS Maury (DD-401) made the highest trial speed ever recorded for a United States Navy destroyer, 42.8 knots. All four ships served extensively in World War II, notably in the Solomon Islands and the Battle of the Philippine Sea, with Maury receiving a Presidential Unit Citation.

The four Gridleys were part of a series of three classes with similar characteristics laid down 1935-1937. The other two were the Bagley class (8 ships) and the Benham class (10 ships). All three featured four 5 inch (127 mm) guns and sixteen 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes in four quadruple mounts as built, the largest number of torpedo tubes on any US destroyers. Although all had only one stack, they differed primarily in their machinery. The Gridleys were designed by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company with advanced high-pressure boilers (also built by Bethlehem) but turbines generally similar to the earlier Farragut class, which limited their range. The Bagleys were a Navy design that duplicated the machinery of the preceding long-range Mahan class. The Benhams were a Gibbs & Cox design with another new boiler design that allowed a reduction from four boilers to three, with an efficient turbine arrangement resembling the Mahans'.