USS Stevens (DD-479)

History

United States
Namesake:	Thomas Holdup Stevens and Thomas H. Stevens, Jr.
Builder:	Charleston Navy Yard
Laid down:	30 December 1941
Launched:	24 June 1942
Commissioned:	1 February 1943
Decommissioned:	2 July 1946
Struck:	27 November 1973
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 27 November 1973
General characteristics
Class and type:	Fletcher-class destroyer
Displacement:	2,050 tons
Length:	376 ft 6 in (114.7 m)
Beam:	39 ft 8 in (12.1 m)
Draft:	17 ft 9 in (5.4 m)
Propulsion:	60,000 shp (45 MW); 2 propellers
Speed:	35 knots (65 km/h)
Range:	6500 nmi. (12,000 km) @ 15 kt
Complement:	336
Armament:	1942: 4 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal. guns (4 × 1) 2 × Bofors 40 mm AA guns (1 × 2) 8 × Oerlikon 20 mm AA guns (8 × 1) 5 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (1 × 5) 6 × depth charge projectors 2 × depth charge tracks 1944: 5 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal. guns (5 × 1) 6 × Bofors 40 mm AA guns (3 × 2) 11 × Oerlikon 20 mm AA guns (11 × 1) 10 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2 × 5) 6 × depth charge projectors 2 × depth charge tracks
Aircraft carried:	1, one catapult (removed 1944)

USS Stevens (DD-479), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of that name in the United States Navy. This ship was named for both Rear Admiral Thomas H. Stevens, Jr. (1819–1896), and his father, Captain Thomas Holdup Stevens (1795–1841).

Stevens (DD-479) was laid down on 30 December 1941 at the Charleston Navy Yard; launched on 24 June 1942, co-sponsored by Mrs. Roland Curtin and Mrs. Frederick Stevens Hicks; and commissioned on 1 February 1943 at the Charleston Navy Yard, with Commander Frank H. Ball in command.

Stevens was one of the three Fletcher-class destroyers to be completed with a catapult for a float plane, the others being Pringle (DD-477) and Halford (DD-480). The catapult and an aircraft crane were located just aft of the number 2 smokestack, in place of the after torpedo tube mount, 5 inch mount number 3, and the 2nd deck of the after deck house which normally carried a twin 40 mm anti-aircraft gun on most ships of the class. (The twin 40 mm mount was moved to the fantail, just forward of the depth charge racks, where most ships of the class carried 20 mm mounts.) It was intended that the float plane be used for scouting for the destroyer flotilla which the ship was attached to. It would be launched by the catapult, land on the water next to the ship, and be recovered by the aircraft crane. It turned out to be not operationally suitable for the intended purpose, and the 3 ships were ultimately converted to the standard Fletcher-class configuration.

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