Spence, ordered 28 June 1940, was fitted with the original high, round bridge carried over from the Sims class. Like other 2100-ton Fletcher-class destroyers completed at Bath Iron Works in late 1942, specifications for hull 201, Spence, were the same as sister Strong: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.
Spence’s initial armament was that of a typical high-bridge Fletcher-class destroyer from 1942–3: five 5-inch guns in single mounts, four 40mm guns in two twin mounts (one between  the 53 and 54 mounts; the other on the fantail) and ten 21-inch torpedo tubes in quintuple mounts plus 20mm guns (including one on an elevated platform forward of the bridge) and depth charges. Primary: 5 x 5-inch/38 cal. in five single mounts
Long-range anti-aircraft: 4 x 40mm Bofors in five twin mounts
Short-range anti-aircraft: 7–12 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
Spence’s first modification was to replace the fantail 40mm—a location that had proved too wet for a director-controlled mount—with three single 20mm. Two twin 40mm guns were also installed in elevated gun tubs in way of the after stack, bringing her 40mm total to six, the typical mid-1943 armament: Primary: 5 x 5-inch/38 cal. in five single mounts
Long-range anti-aircraft: 6 x 40mm Bofors in five twin mounts
Short-range anti-aircraft: 11 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
 Spence was again modified at San Francisco’s Hunter’s Point, 18 August–5 October 1944 to carry two more 40mm twin mounts forward of the bridge—replacing the 20mm single mounts there—the typical 1943–4 armament carried by 157 of 166 then-active Fletchers:
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
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