| The first destroyer class designed after World War II was the Forrest Sherman class. Conceived as an enlarged and improved Gearing, Forrest Sherman commissioned with a main armament of three 5-inch/54 cal. Mk42 rapid-fire dual purpose guns, the first destroyer equipped with this weapon.
The eighteen ships of the class were the last destroyers completed without guided missiles  but played a transitional role. Superseded by the guided-missile-carrying Charles F. Adams class when they were still relatively new, it was not long before they were modified to play new roles. Decatur, equipped with a Tartar missile launcher replacing her after 5-inch guns, was redesignated guided missile destroyer DDG 31 in 1966; John Paul Jones, Parsons and Somers followed as DDGs 32, 33 and 34 in 1967.
Other modifications also affected their appearance. All except the first three had their freeboard increased by three feet at the bow during construction. Later, the 14 ships not modified to carry missiles were refitted with an SQS-23 bow-mounted sonar, at which time most of these were refitted with more sharply-raked bows and a centerline bow anchor to clear the underwater dome.
The Forrest Shermans served into the 1980s, when they decommissioned as the larger Spruance-class destroyers came into service. Most remained on the Navy List until the end of the decade; seven remained unscrapped at the end of the 1990s.
Three have been preserved as museum ships: Barry at the Washington Navy Yard, Edson now withdrawn to Philadelphia from the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City awaiting another assignment, and Turner Joy on the boardwalk at Bremerton, Washington.To find an image of a ship: (1) hover to identify the image; then click to view it in more detail or (2) link from the ship list below.931 Forrest Sherman, 932 John Paul Jones, 933 Barry, 936 Decatur, 937 Davis, 938 Jonas Ingram, 940 Manley, 941 Du Pont, 942 Bigelow, 943 Blandy, 944 Mullinix, 945 Hull, 946 Edson, 947 Somers, 948 Morton, 949 Parsons, 950 Richard S. Edwards, 951 Turner Joy. |
SPECIFICATIONS
Length (as built): Overall: 418' 6"; Waterline: 407' 0".
Length (DD 932–933 as modified): Overall: 424'.
Beam: 44' 11˝".
Draft: Mean: 15'.
Displacement: Light: 2734 long tons; Full load: 4916 long tons.
Designed Complement: 324.
Designed Shaft Horsepower: 70,000.
Designed Speed: 33 knots.
Screws: Two.
Rudder: Two.
Stacks: Two.
Endurance: 4,500 nautical miles at 20 knots.INITIAL ARMAMENT
Main: 3 x 5-inch/54 cal. guns.
Anti-air: 4 x 3-inch/50 cal. guns.
ASW: 4 x torpedo tubes; ASROC; 2 Hedgehog mounts; DASH. | |
