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Fletcher DDs in Action Warship Number 8 by Jerry Scutts
Fletcher DDs in Action Warship Number 8 by Jerry Scutts
Soft Cover
49 pages
Copyright 1995
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Guadalcanal Debut
Main Armament
USS Lavallette DD
1943
Kula Gulf
Rescue Force
Battle of Vella Lavella
Operation Shoestring 2
Empress Augusta Bay
Admiral Burkes Nickname
1944
Truk Secured
Marianas Raid
Marianas Massacre
The Phillipines
Surigao Strait
Picketing Leyte Gulf
1945 Lingayen Gulf
Iwo Jima & Okinawa
Postwar Service
ASW Upgrade (DDE)
Exports
Preserved Fletchers
Introduction
When USS NICHOLAS (DD-449) was commissioned on 4 June 1942, the event was a significant one for the U.S. Navy. It marked the entry into service of the first of 175 Fletcher Class destroyers. These destroyers not only represented a landmark design which would serve with distinction throughout the Second World War, but provided the basis for the later Sumner and Gearing classes.
The Fletcher Class originated from a design submitted to the Naval Board in January of 1940 and approved by the Secretary of the Navy on 27 January 1940. This design called for a ship of 2,100 tons, powered by a 60,000 shp plant, with a length of 369 feet and capable of speeds up to 38 knots. She was to be armed with torpedoes, five inch guns (five turrets), one quadruple 1.1 inch anti-aircraft gun mount, twenty-eight depth charges, and four .50 caliber machine guns. Once the design was approved, orders for some twenty-four ships were placed and by the end of 1940, this number had been increased to 100. The shipyards involved were San Pedro and Long Beach, California, Chickasaw, Alabama, Orange, Texas and Seattle, Washington. With the U.S. entry into the Second World War, additional orders were placed bringing up the total to 175.
During late 1941 and early 1942, orders were issued to revise the ship's anti-aircraft armament. The 1.1 inch guns were replaced with one twin 40MM Bofors mount and the .50 caliber machine gun mounts were replaced with single 20MM Oerlikon cannons. The early ships were all delivered without their SC air search and SG surface search radar installations.
For anti-submarine duty, the ships were each fitted with two depth charge tracks on the stern with eight depth charges and three K-gun throwers on each side of the rear deck.
Throughout the war, Fletcher Class destroyers were modified and changed to meet the needs of a changing war. During 1943, the anti-aircraft defenses were increased by the addition of two Bofors mounts amidships, with the removal of the stern mount. Over time, the number of 40MM guns was increased to a total of five mounts, two forward, two amidships and a single mount between number three and four 5 inch mounts. In addition, extra 20MM mounts were installed to boost the firepower of all the ships of the class.
Six Fletchers were planned to have the capability to operate an OS2N Kingfisher. While three ships were actually converted, floatplanes proved to be unnecessary, and the ships were later refitted to standard configuration.
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