Wickes class destroyer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


USS Wickes DD-75
Class overview
Name: Wickes class destroyer
Builders: Bath Iron Works
Fore River Shipbuilding Company
William Cramp and Sons
Operators: United States
Royal Navy Ensign Great Britain
Preceded by: Caldwell class destroyer
Succeeded by: Clemson class destroyer
Completed: 111
General characteristics
Type: Destroyer
Displacement:
  • 1,154 tons (normal)
  • 1247 tons (full load)
Length: 314 ft 4.5 in (95.82 m)
Beam: 30 ft 11.25 in (9.43 m)
Draught: 9 ft (2.74 m)
Propulsion:
  • 4 Boilers
  • 2 Parsons Turbines
  • (24,610 horsepower)
Speed: 35.3 Knots
Complement: 100 officers and enlisted
Armament:
  • 4 1 x 4"/50 cal
  • 1 1 x 3"/25 AA
  • 4 X 3 21" torpedo tubes

The Wickes-class destroyers were American destroyers built to create "a fleet second to none". The basic requirement for the class was a possible speed of 35 knots. Congress authorized the project's funding in 1916.

Contents

[edit] Background

With World War I now in its 2nd year and increasing tensions between the United States of America and Germany increasing, the U.S. needed to expand the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Congress passed The Naval Appropriation Act of 29 August 1916, which called for a navy “second to none,” capable of protecting both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. It authorized orders for 10 battleships, 6 Lexington-class battlecruisers, 10 Scout Cruisers of the Omaha class, and 50 Wickes class destroyers with a 35 knots top speed.[1].

[edit] Design

Armament consisted of 4 4"/50 caliber naval guns and 12 21" torpedo tubes. The design was flushed deck with four stacks. An increase in weight and cost was demanded by the increase in power. An even keel and near horizontal propeller shafts were designed to minimize weight increases. The armament would be considered to be about average for destroyers of this period. The class proved to be short ranged and wet in design. The fuel tankage would be expanded by 100 tons in the next Clemson class to correct the range problem. Only the development of at sea refueling (underway replenishment) UNREP would solve this issue however.

[edit] Production

The U.S. Congress would authorize 50 destroyers in the 1916 Naval expansion act. However the realization of the scope of the U-Boat campaign resulted in 111 being built. The 111 ships were built at Bath Iron Works, Bethlehem Steel Corporation's Fore River Shipbuilding Company and William Cramp and Sons shipyard.

[edit] Operations

A number of this class were transferred to the United Kingdom in the Destroyers for Bases Agreement. Others were converted to light minelayers with the designation DM. Some were converted to high speed transports with the designation APD. Most ships remaining in service during World War II were rearmed with dual-purpose 3"/50 caliber guns to provide better anti-aircraft protection.[2] The AVD seaplane tender conversions received 2 guns; the APD transport, DM minelayer, and DMS minesweeper conversions received 3 guns, and those retaining destroyer classification received 6.[3] Their original low-angle 4"/50 caliber guns (Mark 9) were transferred to Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships for anti-submarine protection.[4]

[edit] Wickes class ships

It should be noted that some of these ships are also referred to as being Little class, Lamberton class and Tattanall class to signify the yard that built them.

List of Wickes class destroyers

[edit] References

  • Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4. 
  • Morison, Samuel Eliot (1962). History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Supplement and General Index. Little, Brown and Company. 
  • Silverstone, Paul H. (1968). U.S. Warships of World War II. Doubleday and Company. 
  1. ^ Wickes- and Clemson-class flush-deck destroyers
  2. ^ Morrison 1962 p.39
  3. ^ Silverstone 1968 pp.112,212,215,276&303
  4. ^ Campbell 1985 p.143

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Wickes-class destroyer

Wickes | Philip | Woolsey | Evans | Little | Kimberly | Sigourney | Gregory | Stringham | Dyer | Colhoun | Stevens | McKee | Robinson | Ringgold | McKean | Harding | Gridley | Fairfax | Taylor | Bell | Stribling | Murray | Israel | Luce | Maury | Lansdale | Mahan | Schley | Champlin | Mugford | Chew | Hazelwood | Williams | Crane | Hart | Ingraham | Ludlow | Rathburne | Talbot | Waters | Dent | Dorsey | Lea | Lamberton | Radford | Montgomery | Breese | Gamble | Ramsay | Tattnall | Badger | Twiggs | Babbitt | DeLong | Jacob Jones | Buchanan | Aaron Ward | Hale | Crowninshield | Tillman | Boggs | Kilty | Kennison | Ward | Claxton | Hamilton | Tarbell | Yarnall | Upshur | Greer | Elliot | Roper | Breckinridge | Barney | Blakeley | Biddle | Du Pont | Bernadou | Ellis | Cole | J. Fred Talbott | Dickerson | Leary | Schenck | Herbert | Palmer | Thatcher | Walker | Crosby | Meredith | Bush | Cowell | Maddox | Foote | Kalk | Burns | Anthony | Sproston | Rizal | MacKenzie | Renshaw | O'Bannon | Hogan | Howard | Stansbury | Hopewell | Thomas | Haraden | Abbot | Bagley
List of destroyers of the United States Navy | List of destroyer classes of the United States Navy
v • d • e
United States Navy
Portal:United States Navy
Leadership
Organization
Structure
Ships
A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W · X · Y · Z
Aircraft carriers · Airships · Amphibious assault ships · Auxiliaries · Battleships · Cruisers · Destroyers · Destroyer escorts · Escort carriers · Frigates · Mine warfare vessels · Monitors · Patrol vessels · Sailing frigates · Steam frigates · Steam gunboats · Ships of the line · Sloops of war · Submarines · Torpedo boats
Personnel & Training
Civilian Auxiliary:
Uniforms & Equipment
History & Traditions