Benson-class destroyer

USS Benson (DD-421)
Class overview
Name:	Benson-class destroyer
Builders:	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation: Fore River Shipyard, Union Iron Works, Staten Island, New York Division, San Pedro, California Division Boston Navy Yard Charleston Navy Yard Puget Sound Navy Yard
Operators:	United States Navy Republic of China Navy (Taiwan)
Preceded by:	Sims class
Succeeded by:	Gleaves class
Subclasses:	24 Bristol-class[1]
Built:	1938–43
In commission:	1940–51
Completed:	30
Lost:	4
General characteristics
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	1620 tons[1] (2515 tons full load)
Length:	341 ft (103.9 m) waterline, 348 ft 2 in (106.12 m) overall
Beam:	36 ft 1 in (11.00 m)
Draft:	11 ft 9 in (3.58 m) (normal),   17 ft 9 in (5.41 m) (full load)
Propulsion:	four Babcock & Wilcox boilers, General Electric SR geared turbines; two shafts; 50000 shp (37 MW)
Speed:	37.5 knots (69.5 km/h) 33 knots (61.1 km/h) full load
Range:	6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) at 15 kt   (11,000 km at 28 km/h)
Complement:	208 (276 war)
Armament:	5 × 5 in (127 mm) DP guns,   6 × 0.50 in. (12.7 mm) guns, 10 × 21 in (53 cm) torpedo tubes,   2 × depth charge tracks
Notes:	authorized in fiscal year 1938[1] Ship data source.[2]

The Benson class was a class of destroyers of the U.S. Navy built 1939–1943. The thirty 1,620-ton Benson-class destroyers were built in two groups. The first six were authorized in fiscal year 1938 and laid down at Bethlehem Steel, Quincy, Massachusetts and three navy yards. The remaining 24 “repeat Bensons” were authorized in 1941–42 and built at four Bethlehem Steel yards. They were laid down after the first group was commissioned. These plus the “repeat Livermores” were also known at the time as the Bristol class.

The lead ship of the class was named after William Shepherd Benson, a graduate of the Naval Academy in 1877. He commanded the USS Albany, USS Missouri, USS Utah, and the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Benson was appointed first Chief of Naval Operations in 1915 and then served as CNO until he retired 25 September 1919. He died in Washington, D.C., 20 May 1932.^[3]

The Benson class was designed as an improved version of the Sims class with two stacks and a new machinery arrangement that featured alternating boiler and engine rooms designed to give the ships a better chance at surviving torpedo damage. Their scantlings, or framing dimensions, were increased to carry the weight of the new machinery. This increased the ship's displacement by about sixty tons. The Benson-class destroyer was the backbone of the pre-war Neutrality Patrols and brought the action to the enemy by participating in every major campaign of the war.

Following class

The Gleaves-class destroyers were built to nearly the same design and were virtually identical to the Benson-class. The only visible difference between Benson and Gleaves was the shape of the stacks (the Bensons were flat-sided).

Losses

USS Laffey and USS Barton were lost at the Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942.; the USS Lansdale was lost in a battle in the Mediterranean Sea on 20 April 1944 and the bow section of USS Murphy was cut off in a collision with SS Bulkoil 75 miles (121 km) outside New York, 21 October 1943 and sank. The rest of the ship was saved and was rebuilt and returned to service .^[1]

Decorations

USS Laffey received a Presidential Unit Citation for her role in the Battle of Guadalcanal. USS Bailey received a Navy Unit Commendation for her service in the Battle of the Komandorski Islands, 26 March 1943. Also, the USS Hilary P. Jones received a Navy Unit Commendation for her actions in the final operations in the Mediterranean Sea in September 1944.^[1]

Ships in class

See also

• Livermore class destroyer
• List of destroyers of the United States Navy
• List of destroyer classes of the United States Navy

References

• Destroyerhistory.org: Benson/Gleaves ship list

External links

Media related to Benson class destroyers at Wikimedia Commons

• Benson-class destroyers at Destroyer History Foundation
• Tin Can Sailors @ Destroyers.org - Benson class destroyer

Benson-class destroyers  United States Navy Benson Mayo Madison Lansdale Hilary P. Jones Charles F. Hughes Laffey Woodworth Farenholt Bailey Bancroft Barton Boyle Champlin Meade Murphy Parker Caldwell Coghlan Frazier Gansevoort Gillespie Hobby Kalk Kendrick Laub MacKenzie McLanahan Nields Ordronaux  Republic of China Navy Lo Yang (ex-Benson) Han Yang (ex-Hilary P. Jones)  Marina Militare Artigliere (ex-Woodworth) Preceded by: Sims class Followed by: Gleaves class List of destroyers of the United States Navy