Allen M. Sumner Class, U.S. Destroyers (original) (raw)

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Specifications:

The Allen M. Sumners, completed in 1943-45, were an attempt to improve on the firepower of the Fletchers. They were a disappointment to the U.S. Navy, which expected more from the new design. Few of the ships actually achieved the design speed of 36.5 knots, with some units unable to do better than 33.6 knots in trials. The bridge and living quarters were quite cramped to make room for fire control directors and electronic equipment. The twin mounts had a longer firing cycle and trained significantly more slowly than the single mounts of the Fletcher. However, the focused firepower proved beneficial in combat. These ships also had twin rudders (significantly improving maneuverability) and radar accommodations prefiguring the C.I.C. concept. Their greatest deficiency was the great weight of the forward mounts, which tended to drive their bows into the water and introduced stress points in the hulls. However, they proved durable in combat with the kamikazes.

The notion of twin gun mounts for destroyers had been tested in the Porter and Somers classes, but these had no antiaircraft capability, and a suitable twin dual-purpose mount could not be developed in time for the Fletchers. Such mounts were later produced for large warships, and by 1943 production was sufficient to permit their use in destroyers. A design for a six-gun destroyer was completed in 1942 in anticipation of the availability of the mounts.

A peculiarity of the Allen M. Sumner design was that the after 5"/38 twin gun mount was capable of firing dead ahead, over the masts and bridge structure.

Nimitz recommended that a dozen of these destroyers should be completed as offensive mine layers by replacing the torpedoes, two depth charge throwers, and three of the 20mm guns with mine laying gear for 120 mines. These ships could carry 120 mines and were thought fast enough to sneak into enemy waters by night to carry out their mission. They are listed separately as the Robert H. Smith class.

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References

DANFS

Gogin (2010; accessed 2013-2-9)

Jane's

Whitley (1988)

Worth (2001)

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