Destroyers: Fletcher Class

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Blackbat242
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Re: Destroyers: Fletcher Class

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Some layout drawings, first of the original 10-tube layout and then of the later 5-tube layout with greatly enhanced AA mountings.
Fletcher class destroyer technical drawing 1954.jpg
Fletcher original.jpg
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SGT USMC '81-'89 VMA(AW)-121, VMA(AW)-242, CV-61 AIMD
Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Fletcher Class

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Fletcher Class Destroyer USS Harrison pictured transferring aircraft drop tanks over to USS Bennington, during operations off Okinawa on April 11th 1945.
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Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Fletcher Class

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Fletcher Class Destroyers USS Dashiell,USS Gatling pictured as they transit the Pedro Miguel Locks,Panama Canal in 1957.
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designeraccd
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Re: Destroyers: Fletcher Class

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Let's not forget these two valiant FLETCHER's and their battle versus IJN heavies off Samar! DFO
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designeraccd
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Re: Destroyers: Fletcher Class

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The JOHNSTON and her crew, C.O. were all heroes.............

"On Oct. 20, 1944, Johnston joined Seventh Fleet’s Escort Task Unit 77.4—call sign “Taffy 3”—to defend the north Leyte Gulf, east of Samar and off San Bernardino Strait, and the Leyte beachhead for General Douglas MacArthur’s return to the Philippines. On 25 October 1944, a pilot reported the powerful Japanese Center Force steaming into Leyte Gulf heading directly towards Johnston and her small escort carrier task unit. Despite being heavily outmatched, Evans gave the order to attack a major portion of the Japanese fleet. Under a hail of Japanese fire, Johnston fired more than 200 rounds and 10 torpedoes at Japanese heavy cruiser, Kumano, which later sank. Although Johnston had hit the heavy cruiser, enemy shells managed to strike Johnston as well causing widespread damage and casualties. Evans himself was seriously wounded. Despite the grave damage, no torpedoes remaining, and reduced speed and firepower, Johnston commenced a second attack firing 30 rounds into a 30,000-ton Japanese battleship.

Noticing the Japanese ships were targeting escort carrier Gambier Bay (CVE-73), Evans gave the order to “commence firing on that cruiser, draw her fire on us and away from Gambier Bay.” One by one, Johnston took on Japanese destroyers, although Johnston had no torpedoes and limited firepower. After two-and-a-half hours, Johnston—dead in the water—was surrounded by enemy ships. At 9:45 a.m., Evans gave the order to abandon ship. Twenty-five minutes later, the destroyer rolled over and began to sink.

Of the crew of 327, only 141 survived. Of the 186 lost, about 50 were killed by enemy action, 45 died on rafts from battle injuries and 92, including Evans, were alive in the water after Johnston sank, but were never heard from again.

For Johnston’s supreme courage during the Battle off Samar, she was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. The ship received six battle stars for service in World War II. Evans posthumously received the Medal of Honor.

“The skipper was a fighting man from the soles of his broad feet to the ends of his straight black hair,” said Ensign Robert C. Hagen, gunnery officer, Johnston. “He was an Oklahoman and proud of the Indian blood he had in him. We called him-though not to his face-the Chief. The Johnston was a fighting ship, but he was the heart and soul of her.”

Truly inspirational! DFO
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designeraccd
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Re: Destroyers: Fletcher Class

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The other highly notable FLETCHER class destroyer off Samar was the HOEL. Her valiant action is described her:

"Dawn of 25 October 1944 found Taffy 3 steaming northeast of Samar operating as the Northern Air Support Group. “Taffy 2” was in the central position patrolling off the entrance to Leyte Gulf, and “Taffy 1” covered the southern approaches to the Gulf some 130 miles to the southeast of Hoel’s Taffy 3. Admiral T. L. Sprague was under the erroneous impression that Admiral Halsey’s Third Fleet was providing protection to the north and so was taken by surprise when, at 0645, Taffy 3’s lookouts observed antiaircraft fire to the northward and within three minutes were under heavy fire from Kurita’s powerful Center Force of 4 battleships, 6 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, and 11 destroyers.

The only chance for survival of the little group of American “jeep” carriers and “tin cans” lay in fleeing to the south, hoping that aid would arrive before their complete destruction. While the carriers launched all available planes to attack their numerous Japanese adversaries and then formed a rough circle as they turned toward Leyte Gulf, Hoel and her fellow destroyers Johnston and Heermann, worked feverishly to lay down a smoke screen to hide their “baby flattops” from the overwhelmingly superior enemy ships. At 0706, when a providential rain squall helped to hide his carriers, Admiral Clifton Sprague boldly ordered his destroyers to attack the Japanese with torpedoes. Hoel instantly obeyed this order by heading straight for the nearest enemy battleship, Kongo, then 18,000 yards away. When she had closed to 14,000 yards, she opened fire as she continued her race toward the smoking muzzles of Kongo’s 14-inch guns. A hit on her bridge, which knocked out all voice radio communication, did not deflect her from her course toward the enemy until she had launched a half salvo of torpedoes at a range of 9,000. Although Hoel’s “fish” all failed to strike their target, they caused Kongo to lose ground in her pursuit of the carriers by forcing her to turn sharply left and to continue to move away from her quarry until they had run their course. Minutes later Hoel suffered hits which knocked out three of her guns, stopped her port engine, and deprived her of her Mark 37 fire control director, FD radar and bridge steering control. Undaunted, Hoel turned to engage the enemy column of heavy cruisers. When she had closed to within 6,000 yards of the leading crusier, Haguro, the fearless destroyer launched a half-salvo of torpedoes which ran “hot, straight and normal.” This time she was rewarded by the sight of large columns of water, which rose from her target. Although Japanese records deny that these torpedoes hit the cruiser, there is no evidence to indicate any other explanation for the geyser effect observed.

Hoel now found herself crippled and surrounded by enemies. Kongo was only 8,000 yards off her port beam and the heavy cruiser column was some 7,000 yards off her port quarter. During the next hour, the valiant ship rendered her final service by drawing enemy fire to herself and away from the carriers. In the process of fish-tailing and chasing salvos, she demanded the attention of her antagonists by peppering them with her two remaining guns. Finally, at 0830, after withstanding over 40 hits, an 8-inch shell stilled her remaining engine. With her engine room under water, her No. 1 magazine ablaze, and the ship listing heavily to port and settling by the stern, Hoel’s stouthearted captain, Commander Leon S. Kinterberger, reluctantly ordered his crew to “prepare to abandon ship.” The Japanese fire at the doomed ship continued as her surviving officers and men went over the side and only stopped at 0855 when Hoel rolled over and sank in 4,000 fathoms.

Only 86 of Hoel’s complement survived while 253 officers and men died with their ship. Commander Kinterberger described the incomparably courageous devotion to duty of the men of the Hoel in a seaman’s epitaph to the action: “Fully cognizant of the inevitable result of engaging such vastly superior forces, these men performed their assigned duties coolly and efficiently until their ship was shot from under them.”

In addition to the Presidential Unit Citation, Hoel received the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation Badge and five battle stars for World War II service."

Another "little boy" that helped stop the IJN's main body........DFO
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designeraccd
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Re: Destroyers: Fletcher Class

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A early FLETCHER that fought her way thru the Pacific, the NICHOLAS.

Her record from the Net:

"The second USS Nicholas (DD 449), authorized in 1938 and ordered in 1940, was built at Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine side-by-side with sister USS O’Bannon—the first two of 175 ships of the 2,100-ton Fletcher class laid down. Following her construction, launch and trials off Rockland, Maine, the “Nick” was placed in commissioned at Boston Navy Yard on 4 June 1942.
Arriving in the Pacific in September, she joined the Guadalcanal operation, which was already in progress. Soon sisters O’Bannon, Fletcher, De Haven, Radford, Jenkins, La Vallette, Chevalier, Strong and Taylor arrived and in March 1943, the survivors were formed into Destroyer Squadron 21, with Nicholas as flagship.

For the next seven months, these ships fought their way up the Solomon Islands chain through many more bombardments and night surface actions, including the Battles of Kula Gulf and Kolombangara. Then at the end of October 1943, the squadron was assigned to screening duty for the the Gilbert Islands operation before sailing home to Mare Island Navy Yard for the “Nick’s” only refit of the war.

“I am proud to present to you a fitting token of the respect and esteem which this ship, her officers and her men have well earned throughout the Navy,” began Admiral Nimitz in his remarks to the crew at Nicholas’s Presidential Unit Citation ceremony on 28 January 1944. For her action in 1943, she was one of the first ships to be presented this high honor.

“To say the record speaks for itself is not enough,” he continued. “In this case the record of the Nicholas is in a sense the record of one entire phase of the Pacific war.”

Much the same was true of other ships of DesRon 21, of which Nicholas was flagship. It including the name ship of her class (Fletcher), two other individual Presidential Unit Citation awardees (Radford and O’Bannon), a Naval Unit Commendation recipient (Taylor) and four of the nine destroyers that earned fifteen or more service stars in World War II (O’Bannon, Nicholas, Fletcher and Taylor).

Admiral Halsey also acknowledged the “Nick.” As the war’s end approached, he directed that she and O’Bannon be present in Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender. En route, she proceeded ahead of the formation approaching Japan to receive emissaries and pilots for distribution among the fleet, led the Flagship Task Group into Tokyo Bay, and later transported Allied and American representatives to and from the surrender ceremony aboard Missouri.

By this time, Nicholas had earned sixteen battle stars, a total surpassed only by O’Bannon, and her thirty stars through three wars is the highest total for any US Navy ship.

Thanks to circumstances such as these, the “Nick” also emerged as one of the most photographed destroyers of World War II, with more than 300 images taken of or from her preserved at the National Archives and at least another 300 in private collections.

In February 1944, Nicholas arrived back in the western Pacific to resume screening convoys and the fleet (sinking two submarines) and bombarding shore positions in New Guinea, the Philippines and Borneo. This duty sometimes kept her at sea for many weeks, to the point where she ran low on food.

After hostilities ceased on 15 August 1945, Admiral Halsey ordered Nicholas, O’Bannon and Taylor to screen his flagship Missouri as she entered Japanese home waters. On 27 August, Nicholas proceeded ahead of the formation to receive Japanese emissaries, pilots and interpreters. Two days later, she led the Flagship Task Group into Tokyo Bay.

Nicholas also featured in the events surrounding the formal Japanese surrender on 2 September. Her assignment that day was to transport American and Allied representatives out to Missouri at anchor for the ceremony, which the crew could observe through binoculars. On 1 October, after a month spent repatriating prisoners of war, the Nick departed for home and arriving at Seattle in time for the Navy Day celebration there.

Converted and then recommissioned as an escort destroyer (DDE) in 1951, she served thereafter off Korea and in continued deployments to the western Pacific.

Over seven months in 1959–60, she received a FRAM II conversion at Pearl Harbor, one of only three Fletchers (with Radford and Jenkins) to receive this modification.

Thereafter, she served with the “Pineapple Fleet” and was maintained there, returning to the West Coast only once.

Following a joint 25th birthday celebration with Fletcher, Nicholas completed a total of 14 Western Pacific deployments, including service in the Tonkin Gulf and with the recovery task forces for the Apollo 8 and 9 space missions.

Nicholas was fast, even among sister ships, throughout her lifetime. She achieved 37.1 knots at 2,589 tons during her builder’s trials1 and over 36 knots on one occasion after more than a year at sea2. She may have been even faster after her FRAM conversion.

Finally in 1970, having become the navy’s oldest active destroyer, the “Nick” was decommissioned in a ceremony at Pearl Harbor (again side-by-side with O’Bannon), stricken from the Navy List, towed to Portland, Oregon, and broken up in 1972. At the time she was retired, only seven other Fletcher-class ships remained in service with the US Navy.

An estimated 4,000 officers and men served in her during her nearly 28-year career."

Another combat capable war horse that served the USN very well! :D DFO
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designeraccd
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Re: Destroyers: Fletcher Class

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Here is another famous Fletcher, the NICHOLAS running trials and after Kula Gulf.....reloading for the next battle! :) DFO
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Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Fletcher Class

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Fletcher Class Destroyer USS Harrison pictured transferring mail to USS McKee while at sea off Ulithi, Caroline Islands on March 5th 1945.
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Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Fletcher Class

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Fletcher Class Destroyer USS Gatling..c1944
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