Sims class destroyer

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USS Sims (DD-409), lead ship of the class.
Class overview
Name: Sims class destroyer
Operators: United States
Preceded by: Benham class destroyer
Succeeded by: Benson class destroyer
Completed: 12
Lost: 5
Retired: 7
Preserved: 0
General characteristics
Type: Destroyer
Displacement: 1,570 tons (standard)
2,465 tons (full load)
Length: 348 ft 4 in
Beam: 36 ft 0 in
Draft: 13 ft 4 in
Propulsion:
  • 3 Boilers
  • 2 Westinghouse Turbines (50,000 horsepower)
Speed: 38.7 knots
Complement:
  • 16 Officers
  • 235 Enlisted
Armament:
  • Four 5"/38 caliber guns
  • Two 40mm twin anti-aircraft mounts
  • Two 21" quadruple torpedo tubes
Notes: fuel capacity: 2,929 barrels


The Sims-class consisted of 12 destroyers in the United States Navy, built in seven various shipyards, and commissioned in 1939 and 1940. It was the last United States destroyer class completed prior to World War II. All Sims-class ships saw action in World War II, and seven survived the war. No ship of this class saw service after 1946.

Of the five ships lost, four were at the hands of the Japanese and one at the hands of the Germans. Three of the seven survivors were undergoing overhauls that were left unfinished at war’s end and ultimately scrapped. The remaining four seaworthy ships were used as targets during the 1946 Operation Crossroads atomic tests at Bikini Atoll. One was sunk by the first blast, while the other three were sunk as targets two years later after serving as experimental platforms.

The Sims class ships were the sixth and final class of the "third-generation" 1500-ton pre-war destroyers that modernized the United States navy in the 1930's. They were the last built with a single engine room, changed with the Benson-class destroyers for increased survivability. However they were also the first increased in hull length, and the precursor for the numerous larger, faster destroyer classes that marked war-time construction.

[edit] Ships of the class

Ship Name Commissioned Decommissioned Fate
Sims (DD-409) 1 August 1939 Sunk by Japanese aircraft in the Battle of the Coral Sea, 7 May 1942. (14 survivors).
Hughes (DD-410) 21 September 1939 28 August 1946 Damaged during Operation Crossroads atomic tests at Bikini Atoll, July 1946. Sunk as target, 16 October 1948.
Anderson (DD-411) 19 May 1939 28 August 1946 Sunk during Operation Crossroads atomic tests (Test "Able"), at Bikini Atoll, 1 July 1946.
Hammann (DD-412) 11 August 1939 Sunk by Japanese submarine I-168 north of Midway Island, 6 June 1942. (80 killed).
Mustin (DD-413) 15 September 1939 29 August 1946 Damaged during Operation Crossroads atomic tests at Bikini Atoll, July 1946. Sunk as target off Kwajalein, 18 April 1948.
Russell (DD-414) 3 November 1939 15 November 1945 Sold for scrap, September 1947.
O'Brien (DD-415) 2 March 1940 Torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-19, 15 September 1942. Sank 19 October 1942 out from Suva while on way to Pearl Harbor for repairs.
Walke (DD-416) 27 April 1940 Sunk in Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 15 November 1942. (88 killed).
Morris (DD-417) 5 March 1940 9 November 1945 Sold for scrap, 2 August 1947.
Roe (DD-418) 5 January 1940 30 October 1945 Sold for scrap, August 1947.
Wainwright (DD-419) 15 April 1940 29 August 1946 Damaged in the Operation Crossroads atomic tests at Bikini Atoll, July 1946. Sunk as target in Pacific, 5 July 1948.
Buck (DD-420) 15 May 1940 Sunk by U-616 off Salerno, Italy, 9 October 1943. (150 killed)

[edit] See also

Gridley class destroyer

[edit] External links

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Sims-class destroyer
List of destroyers of the United States Navy | List of destroyer classes of the United States Navy