Destroyers: Fletcher Class

[Brian James]

A legend is born....USS Fletcher and USS Radford pictured launching at Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Company Shipyards, Kearny, New Jersey,May 3rd 1942..There were a total of 175 Fletcher-Class DD's built during World War II.

[designeraccd]

To think they were smaller than the "vaunted" LC$, but managed to carry 5-5" 38s and (most units) 10-21" torpedo tubes..........not just 1-57mm popgun!!

While no helos were carried (weren't many in 1942!!), several Fletchers did carry a cat + float plane. The experiment did not work to well, therefore the cats/plane were removed. Hmm, I know I have several pics of 1 cat equipped FLETCHER, but darned if I can find them!! So, a early pic of the FLETCHER.......DFO

addenda: DD-480 the HALFORD, which I built a model of (she was my 480th model), was 1 of the cat equipped FLETCHERS....

[designeraccd]

It dawned on me that I vaguely remembered seeing the HALFORD in the first warship book I ever got, Christmas 1956. Sure enough, I pulled out the old copy of THE WORLD'S WARSHIPS (1956) and there she was pictured with the FLETCHER class, cat included. It took a while but the ol BHG came through...finally!! This is the same view used in the old book. DFO

[ivorthediver]

Brilliant class of Ship Dennis worthy of all the praise given to her I.M.O.

[limeybiker]

Cassin Young DD-793 Museum Ship Boston 9th October 2018

She is now a museum ship open to the public berthed alongside the USS Constitution in the old Boston Navy Yard.

Well worth a visit.

[ivorthediver]

IF ONLY ....nothing I would like more ......but outside my budget i'm afraid , but thanks for the photo's

[Brian James]

Fletcher Class Destroyer USS Claxton piictured off the Mare Island Navy Yard, May 13th 1944. In the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay on the night of 1/2 November 1943, Claxton, with four Cruisers and seven other Destroyers, fired her torpedoes in an attack which turned back a Japanese force of four Cruisers and six Destroyers sailing to attack transports off Bougainville, sinking two and damaging four of the enemy ships. Claxton towed Foote, one of five American ships damaged that night, into Purvis Bay, arriving November 4th.
On November 25th 1943, in the battle of Cape St. George, New Ireland, Claxton and four other Destroyers intercepted a force of five Japanese Destroyers, as the enemy ships sailed to evacuate aviation troops to Rabaul. Once more fighting in darkness, Claxton and the others achieved complete surprise in their torpedo attack, and followed with a running gun battle. In this classic Destroyer action, three Japanese ships were sunk and a fourth damaged, with no injury to the American ships.
On February 4th 1944, while bombarding Sarime Plantation on Bougainville, Claxton was seriously damaged by an explosion aft, probably of two medium caliber shells. Despite her damage and 15 wounded, Claxton completed her mission with her three forward guns, then sailed for temporary aid at Purvis Bay and permanent repairs on the west coast. She returned to action in August 1944, and assigned to screen Escort Carriers, took part in the invasion of the Palaus in September. Sailing north for the invasion of the Philippines, the Destroyer covered the operations of underwater demolition teams preparing the beaches, then gave screening and fire support during the landings on October 20th. In the phase of the Battle for Leyte Gulf known as the Battle of Surigao Strait on 24 and 25 October, Claxton screened the battle line in the surface action which virtually destroyed the Japanese southern force.
Continuing her patrol in Leyte Gulf to support the forces ashore, on November 1st 1944, Claxton suffered 5 dead, 23 wounded, and serious damage when a Japanese suicide plane crashed and exploded in the water alongside to starboard.The men used their mattresses to fill the 9-by-5-foot hole.With all her after living spaces flooded, Claxton fought her own damage as she rescued 187 survivors of Abner Read, also a kamikaze's victim.
Repairs at Tacloban and Manus prepared Claxton for her return to action on fire support, patrol, and escort duty in the Lingayen Gulf landings from 9–18 January 1945. Continuing action in the Philippines, she conducted bombardments and covered landings, at various points on Luzon and Mindanao and in the Visayas through early May. On May 16th she arrived off Okinawa for duty as radar picket and fighter-director until the close of the war. On June 6th her guns drove off a flight of 12 kamikazes. After overhaul in New York, she was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Charleston, South Carolina, April 18th 1946. On December 15th 1959, she was loaned under the Mutual Assistance Program to the Federal Republic of Germany, with whom she served as Zerstörer 4 (D 178). In February 1981, she was transferred to the Hellenic Navy where she was ultimately cannibalized for spare parts.

[designeraccd]

Outstanding destroyers for WW2 and beyond. Capable of taking and dishing out punishment. This class was everything a destroyer was supposed to be at the time; all 175 of them.
DFO

[Brian James]

Crewmembers pictured cleaning torpedo tubes aboard Fletcher Class Destroyer USS Nicholas, after the Battle of Kula Gulf,July 6th 1943.

[Blackbat242]

"Cleaning"? Or sleeping?


Here are photos of the quintuple torpedo tubes of USS Kidd (DD-661).

She is now on public view in Baton Rouge, Louisiana as a museum vessel. She was transferred to the Louisiana Naval War Memorial Commission on 23 May 1982, and she hosts youth group overnight encampments.

The USS Kidd was never modernized and is the only destroyer to retain its World War II appearance. Over the years, Kidd has been restored to her August 1945 configuration and armament, culminating on 3 July 1997 when her torpedo tubes were reloaded.

The Kidd's special mooring in the Mississippi River is designed to cope with the annual change in river depth, which can be up to forty feet. For half the year she floats in the river; the other half of the year she is dry-docked out of the water.

USS Kidd (DD-661) on dry-dock platform Baton Rouge Feb 2015.jpg

USS Kidd DD-661 torpedo tubes rear.jpg

USS Kidd DD-661 torpedo tubes.jpg