US Navy destroyers and frigates of the cold war

Links to more information about cold war classes are as follows:
Arleigh Burke, Bainbridge, Belknap, Bronstein, Brooke, California, Charles F. Adams, Claud Jones, Coontz, Dealey, Farragut, Forrest Sherman, Garcia, Glover, Gyatt, Knox, Leahy, Mitscher, Norfolk, Oliver Hazard Perry, Spruance, Truxtun, Virginia.

Beginning in the 1950s, new destroyer-type ships appeared in two sizes; purpose-built anti-submarine (ASW) escorts initially represented a third line of evolution.

New destroyer classes of the 1950s and ’60s joined large numbers of Fletcher, Allen M. Sumner and Gearing classes from World War II, which were supplanted by the Spruance class in the 1970s. All have now been replaced by the Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyers, which began commissioning in the 1990s.

   The larger group, all-weather escorts for fast task forces initially designated DL and referred to as “frigates,” began appearing in 1951 with Norfolk and continued with the Mitscher, Farragut, Coontz, Leahy and Belknap classes. In 1975 these were reclassified as guided missile cruisers; some served until 1994. Bainbridge of 1962 was a nuclear-powered adaptation of Leahy. She was followed by Truxtun and two California-class and two Virginia-class nuclear-powered frigates. All ships of these classes in commission in 1975 were reclassified as cruisers; two addtional Virginia-class ships were launched as cruisers.
   The smaller group began with the 2,780-ton Forrest Sherman class DDs, the “last gunships,” introduced in 1955. Joining destroyers of World War II classes still in commission or recommissioned, the Forrest Shermans mounted three rapid-firing 5-inch/54-caliber guns on an enlarged hull with a more pronounced sheerline for improved seakeeping. In 1960, the Shermans were followed by the Charles F. Adams class of similar design but even greater freeboard forward and guided missiles. Four Forrest Shermans and two Mitschers were also converted to carry missiles.
   These new classes of the 1950s and ’60s were not followed until 1975, when the first of the 9,100-ton Spruance-class destroyers introduced gas-turbine propulsion and shared their hull design with the Ticonderoga-class cruisers. Four Kidd-class ships, enlarged Spruances intended for Iran, commissioned in 1981 and ’82. The destroyers in which today’s generations

While anti-submarine warfare (ASW) escort classes introduced in the 1950s were soon phased out, those from the ’60s remained in operation into the 1990s when they were superseded by Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates, the only class in commission today.

of reunion attendees served, these guided missile classes were superseded only when the Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyers began to arrive in the 1990s, portending their retirement—some while still in excellent condition but too expensive to operate in the 21st century for the capabilities they offered.
The US Navy’s purpose-built ASW escorts, initially referred to as “ocean escorts” (DE) but, from 1975, redesignated as “frigates” (FF), evolved from the destroyer escorts of World War II when it became apparent that leftover Fletchers, Allen M. Sumners and Gearings could not accommodate the electronics necessary for anti-submarine warfare. While the first-generation Dealey and Claud Jones classes introduced in the 1950s were retired by the mid-1970s, those introduced in the 1960s—the Bronstein, Garcia, Glover, Brooke and Knox classes—remained in US Navy service until the end of the 1980s and ’90s, when their role was taken over by the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates.