Caldwell-class destroyer

USS Caldwell (DD-69)
Class overview
Name:	Caldwell class destroyer
Builders:	Mare Island Navy Yard Norfolk Navy Yard Seattle Dry Dock Company William Cramp & Sons Bath Iron Works
Operators:	United States Great Britain
Preceded by:	Sampson-class destroyer
Succeeded by:	Wickes-class destroyer
Built:	1916–1920
In commission:	1917–1945
Completed:	6
Retired:	6
General characteristics
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	1,020 tons (standard) 1,125 tons (normal)
Length:	308 ft (94 m) waterline 315 ft 6 in (96.16 m) overall
Beam:	31 ft 3 in (9.53 m)
Draft:	8 ft (2.4 m) 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m) max
Propulsion:	(DD 69-71, 74) Thornycroft boilers Parsons geared steam turbines two shafts (20,000shp) (DD 72-73) White-Forster boilers Parsons direct drive turbines three shafts (18,500hp)
Speed:	(DD 69-71, 74) 32 kn (59 km/h)[1] (DD 72-73) 30 kn (56 km/h)
Complement:	146
Armament:	4 × 4 inch/50 caliber guns (102 mm)[2] 1 × 3 inch/23 caliber gun (76 mm) 12 × 21 inch torpedo tubes (533 mm) (4×3)

The Caldwell Class of destroyers served in the United States Navy near the end of World War I. Two were deleted during the 1930s, but four survived to serve throughout World War II, three of these in service with the Royal Navy under the Destroyers for Bases Agreement.

Design and Construction

The six Caldwell Class torpedo-boat destroyers were authorised by Congress under the Act of 3 March 1915, "to have a speed of not less than thirty knots per hour [sic] and to cost, exclusive or armor and armament, not to exceed $925,000.00 each ...Provided, that three of said torpedo-boats herein authorised shall be built on the Pacific Coast."

Built from 1916 to 1918, the six ships of the Caldwell class were the first of 279 ordered (6 of which were cancelled) to a flush-decked design to remove the forecastle break weakness of the preceding Sampson class and other "thousand tonners". They were effectively prototypes of the mass production Wickes-class and Clemson-class vessels which followed them, although somewhat slower (30-32 knots vs. 35 knots) and differing in some details. The forward sheer of the Caldwell class was improved to keep "A" mount from being constantly washed out; however, this was unsuccessful.^[3] The Caldwells had a cutaway stern rather than the cruiser stern of the later ships, and thus had a tighter turning radius than their successors.^[4][5] The armament of the Sampsons was retained, but the broadside 4 inch guns were relocated to "bandstands" aft of the bridge. There were differences in appearance; Caldwell, Craven and Manley were built with four "stacks" (funnels), while Gwin, Conner and Stockton had only three. The middle stack of the three-stack ships was wider due to combining two boiler uptakes. Once the mass-production destroyers made the design prevalent, the Caldwells and their successors became known as "flush-deck" or "four-stack" destroyers.^[6]

Manley was converted to a prototype high-speed destroyer transport (APD) in 1939, with her forward stacks and boilers removed to give her the capacity to lift 200 Marines and four 11 m (36 ft) Higgins assault boats (LCP(L), LCP(R), or LCVP). She saw action at Guadalcanal and Kwajalein.

Three entered Royal Navy service in 1940 under the Destroyers for Bases Agreement as part of the Town class. USS Conner (DD-72), serving as HMS Leeds, provided cover at Gold Beach on 6 June 1944; her sisters served as convoy escorts. All three survived the war, two being sunk as targets and one scrapped, postwar.

Armament

The armament repeated that of the preceding Sampson class of "thousand tonners", and would be retained in the subsequent mass production "flush deckers". While the gun armament was typical for destroyers of this period, the torpedo armament of 12 x 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes was larger than usual, in accordance with American practice at the time. A factor in the size of the torpedo armament was the General Board's decision to use broadside rather than centerline torpedo tubes.^[7] This was due to the desire to have some torpedoes remaining after firing a broadside, and problems experienced with centerline mounts on previous classes with torpedoes striking the gunwales of the firing ship.^[8] The Mark 8 torpedo was equipped. The "bandstand" location of the waist 4" guns kept the mounts dry, but restricted the firing arc.

These ships carried a 3 inch 23 caliber (76 mm) anti-aircraft (AA) gun, typically just aft of the bow 4 inch gun. The original design called for two 1 pounder AA guns, but these were in short supply and the 3 inch gun was more effective. Anti-submarine (ASW) armament was added during World War I, or included in the initial design with DD-70 and DD-71. Typically, a single depth charge rack was provided aft, along with a Y-gun depth charge projector forward of the aft deckhouse.^[9]

Engineering

As a somewhat experimental class, the Caldwells differed in their engineering. DD-71 and DD-72, built by Cramp, followed the class's original design, with three-shaft direct drive steam turbines. A high-pressure turbine on the center shaft exhausted to low-pressure turbines on the outboard shafts. A geared cruising turbine was provided on the center shaft for fuel economy at low and moderate speeds. The remaining ships had two shafts with geared turbines, and were also equipped with cruising turbines. This arrangement increase the shaft horsepower from 18,500 to 20,000 and the ships' speed from 30 to 32 knots. With a further increase in horsepower, this was adopted for the mass-production classes.^[10] Caldwell had an experimental "electric speed reducing gear" connecting the cruising turbines to the main turbines, a forerunner of the turbo-electric drive that would be used on several US battleships and aircraft carriers built from World War I through the 1920s.^[11][12]

Ships in class

The 6 ships of the Caldwell class were:

See also

Media related to Caldwell class destroyers at Wikimedia Commons

References

• Friedman, Norman "US Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History (Revised Edition)", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis:2004, ISBN 1-55750-442-3.
• Gardiner, Robert, Conway's all the world's fighting ships 1906-1921 Conway Maritime Press, 1985. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. London: Random House Group, Ltd. 2001. p. 147. ISBN 1-85170-378-0. 
• Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4. 
• Fitzsimons, Bernard, General Editor. The Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare, Volume 5, pp. 510–11, "Caldwell", and Volume 16, pp. 1717–18, "Leeds". London: Phoebus, 1978.
• http://www.navsource.org/archives

External links

• Caldwell-class destroyers at Destroyer History Foundation
• Caldwell-class destroyers at Destroyers OnLine
• Tin Can Sailors @ destroyers.org Caldwell class destroyer
• DestroyerHistory.org Flush Decker page
• DestroyerHistory.org USS Craven page
• DiGiulian, Tony Navweaps.com 4"/50 Mks 7, 8, 9, and 10
• DiGiulian, Tony Navweaps.com Pre-WWII US Torpedoes
• US Navy Torpedo History, part 2

v t e Caldwell-class destroyer  United States Navy Caldwell Craven Gwin Conner Stockton Manley   World War II operators  Royal Navy Leeds Lewes Ludlow Preceded by: Sampson class Followed by: Wickes class List of destroyers of the United States Navy List of destroyer classes of the United States Navy