The Somers class began life as repeat Porters, filling out the quota of 13 leaders established by the London Naval Treaty of 1930.

TORPEDO BATTERY Twelve 21-inch: three quadruple centerline mounts abaft the stacks MAIN GUN BATTERY Eight single purpose 5-inch/38 in four enclosed twin base ring mounts ANTI-AIRCRAFT BATTERY 1938: Four .50 cal machine guns 1945: One 40mm twin; six 20mm singles

   At the time of their trials, however, they became best known for their controversial Gibbs & Cox-designed high-temperature air-encased boilers, derived from a design for the modernization of battleship New Mexico (BB 40).
   Operating at 850° F and 600 psi, Somers’ pioneering powerplant proved a success. Although it added 65 tons, it permitted trunking all the boiler uptakes in to a single stack, which, with the elimination of the tripod mainmast and after gun director, made possible three centerline torpedo mounts, one forward of the stack.
   Other features repeated the Porter design.
   Two ships were funded in FY 1935; three more in 1936. In World War II, all five served exclusively in the Atlantic or Mediterranean except Sampson, which operated off Iceland in 1941 and then was transferred to the Pacific.
   Somers and Jouett had some successes in intercepting German blockade-runners; Davis joined them for the D-day landings, and then the two of them supported the landings in the south of France.
   Warrington served in the Pacific, but foundered in a Caribbean hurricane in 1944.