As a repeat 1630-ton destroyer authorized in 1940, known at the time as a Bristol (modified Livermore)-class ship, the specifications for Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. hull no. 210, Lardner reflected the characteristics of all Gleaves-class ships built there: Length Overall: 348' 3"
Extreme Beam: 36' 3"
Normal Displacement: 1,630 long tons
Draft: Mean: 13' 5"
Designed Complement: Officers, 11; Enlisted, 201
Designed Shaft Horsepower: 51,000
Designed Speed: 35 knots
Screws: Two
Rudder: One
Stacks: Two
DATA | Name: United States Ship Lardner
Type: Destroyer
Namesake: Rear Adm. James L. Lardner, USN
Navy Classification: DD 484
Class: DD 423, Gleaves, also Livermore, Bristol
Authorized: 19 July 1940
Builder: Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. Kearny, New Jersey
Builder’s Hull Number: 210
Keel laid: 16 September 1941
Launched: 20 March 1942
Commissioned: 13 May 1942
Decommissioned: 16 May 1946
Recommissioned: 1948
Sold: Turkish Gremlik (D-347), 1949
Stricken: 1976 |
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At launch, Lardner’s armament was typical for a mid-1942 Bristol-class destroyer, with four dual purpose 5-inch/38 cal. guns in gunhouses, a single quintuple mount between the stacks for 21-inch torpedoes, 20mm single Oerlikons replacing five of the six 0.50 cal. machine guns of earlier ships, plus a 1.1-inch quadruple “Chicago Piano” anti-aircraft gun to starboard in the waist.Primary: 4 x 5-inch/38 cal. in four single mounts
Long-range anti-aircraft: 4 x 1.1-inch cannon in a single mount
Short-range anti-aircraft: 5 x 20mm Oerlikon in single mounts
Torpedo Tubes: 5 x 21-inch in one quintuple mount
ASW: 2 racks for 600-lb. charges; 4 “K”-guns for 300-lb. charges
Her electronics were also typical of the period just before SG (surface search) radar became available: Lardner returned to Pearl Harbor, May 1943, for modifications that included an SG (surface search) radar set, replacement of the 1.1-inch mount aft with a 20mm single Oerlikon. Forward, she received a centerline 20mm mount on a platform constructed forward of the bridge, plus two more—one on each side—on the after corners of the bridge wings. Thus her late 1943–early 1944 armament was as follows: Primary: 4 x 5-inch/38 cal. in five single mounts
Short-range anti-aircraft: 9 x 20mm Oerlikon in single mounts
Torpedo Tubes: 5 x 21-inch in one quintuple mount
ASW: 2 racks for 600-lb. charges; 4 “K”-guns for 300-lb. charges
When Lardner returned to Bremerton in 1944 for her only overhaul of the war, her after 20mm singles were replaced by director-controlled 40mm twin Bofors: It appears no other modifications were undetaken at this time and Lardner retained the following armament through the end of the war: Primary: 4 x 5-inch/38 cal. in five single mounts
Long-range anti-aircraft: 4 x 40mm Bofors in twin mounts
Short-range anti-aircraft: 7 x 20mm Oerlikon in single mounts
Torpedo Tubes: 5 x 21-inch in one quintuple mount
ASW: 2 racks for 600-lb. charges; 4 “K”-guns for 300-lb. charges.
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