As an early 2100-ton Fletcher-class ship from Bath Iron Works, the specifications for hull 195, De Haven, reflected the characteristics of all early Fletcher-class ships built there:

Length Overall: 376' 5½"
Extreme Beam: 39' 8"
Normal Displacement: 2,050 long tons
Draft: Light: 8' 1"; Mean: 13' 5" Deep: 22’8”
Designed Complement: Officers, 34; Enlisted, 295
Designed Shaft Horsepower: 60,000
Designed Speed: 36 knots
Screws: Two
Rudder: One
Stacks: Two
Tactical diameter: 950 yards at 30 knots
Endurance: 4,800 nautical miles at 15 knots.

   At launch, De Haven carried a high platform deck intended for a 1.1-inch anti-aircraft gun between the Nos. 3 and 4 5-inch gunhouses, but experience with ships already in service showed this tended to overheat and jam in service. As commissioned, therefore, De Haven was the third Bath-built 2100-tonner—after Strong and Taylor— to mount one of the newly-available twin 40mm Bofors in this location, plus a second 40mm twin on the fantail, giving her the typical 1942–43 armament for an early high-bridge Fletcher:

Primary: 5 x 5-inch/38 cal. in five single mounts
Long-range anti-aircraft: 4 x 40mm Bofors in two twin mounts
Short-range anti-aircraft: (probably 7) x 20mm Oerlikon in single mounts
Torpedo Tubes: 10 x 21-inch in two quintuple mounts
ASW: 2 racks for 600-lb. charges; 6 “K”-guns for 300-lb. charges

   Her electronics were also typical:

Radar: SC (air search) and SG (surface search), Mk 37 (fire control)
Sonar: QC

   De Haven was lost without receiving any modification.