Heywood L. Edwards was fitted with the low, square bridge introduced in Brownson. Like other 2100-ton Fletcher-class destroyers built at Boston Navy Yard her specifications were as follows:

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.

   Heywood L. Edwards’ armament, unchanged during World War II, was that of a typical low-bridge Fletcher-class destroyer from 1943–4: five 5-inch guns in single mounts, ten 21-inch torpedo tubes in two quintuple mounts, ten 40mm guns in five twin mounts, seven 20mm guns in single mounts and depth charges.

Primary: 5 x 5-inch/38 cal. in five single mounts
Long-range anti-aircraft: 10 x 40mm Bofors in five twin mounts
Short-range anti-aircraft: 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