Gleaves-class destroyer

Gleaves-class destroyer

USS Gleaves (DD-423)
Class overview
Name:	Gleaves-class destroyer
Builders:	Bath Iron Works Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company Boston Navy Yard Charleston Navy Yard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation Philadelphia Naval Shipyard Norfolk Naval Shipyard
Operators:	United States Navy  Hellenic Navy  Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force  Marina Militare  Republic of China Navy  Turkish Navy
Preceded by:	Benson class
Succeeded by:	Fletcher class
Subclasses:	48 Bristol class
Built:	1938–43
In commission:	1940–56
Completed:	66
Lost:	14
Retired:	52
General characteristics
Class & type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	1,630 tons standard, 2395 tons full load
Length:	348 ft 3 in (106.15 m)
Beam:	36 ft 1 in (11.00 m)
Draft:	13 ft 2 in (4.01 m)
Installed power:	4 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 2 Westinghouse geared steam turbines; 50000 shp (37 MW)
Propulsion:	2 shafts
Speed:	37.4 knots (69 km/h)
Range:	6,500 nautical miles (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement:	16 officers, 260 enlisted
Armament:	As designed:   5 × 5 in (127 mm) DP guns,   6 × 0.50 in. (12.7 mm) guns,   10 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2 × 5), 10 torpedoes   2 × depth charge tracks DD-453 onward:   4 × 5 in (127 mm) DP guns,   4 × 40 mm Bofors guns (2 × 2),   7 × 20 mm Oerlikon guns,   5 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (1 × 5),   4-6 × K-gun depth charge throwers,   2 × depth charge tracks
Notes:	Ship data sources: Destroyers.org,[1] Friedman, pp. 95-109, 470-471[2]

The Gleaves-class destroyers were a class of 66 destroyers of the United States Navy built 1938–1942, designed by Gibbs & Cox.^[3][4] The first ship of the class was the USS Gleaves (DD-423). They were the production destroyer of the US Navy when it entered World War II.

The Gleaves class were initially specified as part of a 24-ship Benson class authorized in fiscal years 1938-40; however, Bethlehem Shipbuilding requested that the six ships designed by them use less complex machinery. Initially, USS Gleaves (DD-423) and USS Niblack (DD-424), although designed by Gibbs & Cox and built by Bath Iron Works, were to follow the Benson design. This temporarily made USS Livermore (DD-429) the lead ship with more complex machinery, so the class was initially called the Livermore class, and this name persisted through World War II. However, it soon proved possible for Gleaves and Niblack to be built to the Livermore design.^[2] Since Gleaves was completed before Livermore and had a lower hull number, the class is more correctly the Gleaves class. Eighteen of these were commissioned in 1940-41.^[5] The remaining 48 “repeat Gleaveses” were authorized in 1940–42. These plus the 16 "repeat Bensons" were also known at the time as the Bristol class, after USS Bristol (DD-453). During World War II the Bensons were usually combined with the Livermores (more correctly the Gleaves class) as the Benson-Livermore class; this persisted in references until at least the 1960s.^[6] The classes are now called the Benson-Gleaves class.^[7] In some references both classes are combined and called the Benson class.^[2] The Benson- and Gleaves-class destroyers were the backbone of the pre-war Neutrality Patrols and brought the action to the enemy by participating in every major naval campaign of the war.

Related classes

The Bensons were originally envisioned as a single class of 24 ships, the first eight of which were ordered in fiscal year 1938 (FY38). Six of these were designed by Bethlehem Shipbuilding, to be built at a Bethlehem yard and several naval shipyards, and two were designed by Gibbs & Cox, to be built at Bath Iron Works. All were to have 600 psi (4,100 kPa) steam (references vary) superheated to 750 °F (399 °C), with cruising turbines and double-reduction gearing to maximize fuel efficiency.^[2] After contract award, Bethlehem requested that their design be modified to use less-complex single-reduction gears and no cruising turbines. Bethlehem claimed they could achieve comparable fuel efficiency with the simpler machinery. This request was granted, but FY39 and FY40 ships, beginning with USS Livermore (DD-429), would use the more complex machinery.^[5] So the class was known through World War II as the Benson-Livermore class, and this name persisted in many references until at least the 1960s.^[8] In the spring of 1938 the Navy's Bureau of Steam Engineering requested that the FY39 and FY40 ships be modified for 850 °F (454 °C) superheat.^[2] It proved possible for Bath to build their two FY38 ships, Gleaves and Niblack, to the new design. Gleaves was completed prior to Livermore and had a lower hull number, thus the class name is more correctly the Benson-Gleaves class.^[5][9]

The only external difference between the Benson and Gleaves classes was the shape of the stacks; the Bensons' were flat-sided and the Gleaveses' were round.

After the Fall of France in 1940 a rapid expansion of the Navy was envisioned. To fill the gap until the Fletcher-class destroyers would be ready for service, an additional 72 "repeat" Benson- and Gleaves-class ships were ordered in FY41 and FY42. 24 repeat Bensons were built by several Bethlehem yards, while an additional 48 repeat Gleaveses were built by various other builders.^[5] These were initially called the Bristol class after USS Bristol (DD-453), a repeat Gleaves and the first of these to be completed, although the machinery of the repeat Bensons was different from the repeat Gleaveses. The repeat ships were ordered with reduced torpedo and gun armament and increased anti-submarine and light anti-aircraft armament.^[10]

In some references the Benson and Gleaves classes are combined as the Benson class.^[2]

Design

The Gleaves class was designed as an improved version of the Sims class with two stacks and a new "echeloned" machinery arrangement that featured alternating boiler and engine rooms, designed to give the ships a better chance at surviving torpedo damage. Loss of one compartment, or even two adjacent compartments, would no longer disable the entire propulsion system. This design was credited with the survival of USS Kearny after she was torpedoed by U-568 near Iceland in October 1941, before the US entered the war. The Benson-Gleaves class also introduced quintuple torpedo tube mounts. Their scantlings, or framing dimensions, were increased to carry the weight of the new machinery. This increased the ships' displacement by about seventy tons, to 1630 tons standard displacement.^[2][10] Twenty ships (DD-493-497, 618-28, and 645-648) had square-faced bridges in an attempt to speed production.^[5]

Engineering

The Gleaves class were all completed with 600 psi (4,100 kPa) steam (references vary) superheated to 850 °F (454 °C), double-reduction gearing, and cruising turbines.^[5] The main steam turbines were designed and built by Westinghouse.^[2][10][11]

Armament

The class was completed with four or five 5-inch (127 mm) dual purpose guns (anti-surface and anti-aircraft (AA)), controlled by a Mark 37 Gun Fire Control System as in the previous Sims class. The introduction of two centerline quintuple torpedo tube mounts in the Benson-Gleaves class was a significant improvement and was continued in subsequent World War II classes. This allowed a broadside of ten tubes with savings in space and weight compared to previous classes, which had twelve or sixteen tubes and an eight-tube broadside.^[2] However, most of the Gleaves class spent most of the war with only five torpedo tubes equipped in favor of greater light anti-aircraft armament. This varied considerably in different ships as the war went on; for example, the specified pair of twin 40 mm guns were not widely available until mid-1942 and a quadruple 1.1" machine cannon (28 mm) mount and a 20 mm gun were temporarily substituted.^[10] In 1945 sixteen ships (DD-423-424, 429-432, 435, 437-440, 443, 497, 623-624, and DD-628) were modified for maximum light AA armament as an anti-kamikaze measure, with four 5-inch guns, no torpedo tubes, twelve 40 mm guns (2 × 4, 2 × 2) and four 20 mm guns (2 × 2).^[12][5] Photographs indicate that, as with most pre-1942 destroyers, the initial anti-submarine armament of two depth charge tracks was augmented with four or six K-gun depth charge throwers in 1941-42 on most ships.^[13] In 1943 twelve ships (DD-493, 609, 620, 622-623, 635, 637-639, and DD-646-648) were temporarily equipped with three Mousetrap ASW rocket launchers, but this was unsuccessful and the only such installation on post-1930 US destroyers. They were removed beginning in March 1944.^[10][14]

DMS conversions

Twenty-four Gleaves class ships were converted to destroyer minesweepers (DMS-19 through DMS-42) in 1944 and 1945.^[10][15] Twelve Atlantic Fleet ships (DD-454-458, 461-462, 464, 621, 625, 636, and 637) were converted in 1944, with the rest in the Pacific in 1945 (DD-489-490, 493-496, 618, 627, and 632-635). Magnetic and acoustic minesweeping gear was fitted, with armament reduced to 3 × 5 in guns, no torpedo tubes, 2 × K-guns, 4 × 40 mm guns (2 × 2), and 7 × 20 mm guns on the Atlantic ships. The Pacific ships and Hobson had increased light AA armament, with 8 × 40 mm guns (2 × 4) and 6 × 20 mm guns (2 × 2, 2 × 1). Twelve DMS conversions were the only Benson-Gleaves-class ships retained in service postwar. However, they were judged ineffective in the Korean War due to requiring a large crew compared with purpose-built minesweepers, and were decommissioned in 1954-56.^[16]

Service

Twenty-one were in commission when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Eleven were lost to enemy action during World War II, including Gwin, Meredith, Monssen, Bristol, Emmons, Aaron Ward, Duncan, Beatty, Glennon, Corry, and Maddox. Six of these were in the Pacific, two were off Normandy, and three were in the Mediterranean. Ingraham was lost in a collision with an oiler in 1942, and Turner was lost to an internal explosion in 1944.

Most were decommissioned and placed in the Reserve Fleet just following World War II. Twelve DMS conversions remained in commission into the 1950s, the last withdrawn from service in 1956.^[5] Hobson was sunk in a collision with the aircraft carrier Wasp in 1952. Baldwin grounded while under tow and was scuttled in 1961 while out of commission, thus is not counted as a loss.

Eleven ships of the class were transferred to foreign navies 1949-1959; two to Greece, four to Turkey, one to Italy, two to Taiwan, and two to Japan.^[17] On 19 October 1954 Ellyson and Macomb were transferred to the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force where they served as the JDS Asakaze and JDS Hatakaze (DD-182), the latter was further transferred to Taiwan in 1970 as Hsien Yang to replace the ex-Rodman of the same name.^[18]

Modernization was considered in the 1950s but not implemented except on the transferred ships.^[19] Those ships not transferred to other countries were mostly sold for scrap in the late 1960s and early 1970s.^[5]

Ships in class

The 66 ships of the Gleaves class were:^[5]

Film appearances

The 1954 movie The Caine Mutiny was filmed on USS Doyle (DMS-34) and possibly the USS Thompson (DMS-38). In the 1951 novel, the Caine is a Wickes-class or Clemson class destroyer minesweeper.

The destroyer shown in the opening and closing scenes of the movie musical On the Town is the USS Nicholson (DD-442).

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gleaves class destroyers.

• List of destroyers of the United States Navy
• List of destroyer classes of the United States Navy
• List of destroyer-minesweepers

References

• Destroyerhistory.org: Benson/Gleaves ship list
• Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-26202-0. 
• Friedman, Norman (2004). US Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History (Revised Edition). Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-442-3. 
• Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-83170-303-2. 
• Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7. 
• Silverstone, Paul H. (1965). U.S. Warships of World War II. London: Ian Allan Ltd. ISBN 0-7110-0157-X. 
• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

External links

• Benson- and Gleaves-class destroyers at Destroyer History Foundation
• Gleaves-class destroyers at Destroyer History Foundation
• Tin Can Sailors @ Destroyers.org - Gleaves class article
• Tin Can Sailors @ Destroyers.org - Gleaves class specs
• USS Gleaves (DD-423) and USS Niblack (DD-424) General Information Book with as-built data at Destroyer History Foundation
• Tin Can Sailors @ destroyers.org - Gleaves class destroyer
• NavSource Destroyer Photo Index Page

Gleaves-class destroyers Gleaves Niblack Grayson / Livermore Eberle Plunkett Kearny Gwin Meredith Livermore / Grayson Monssen Woolsey Ludlow Edison Ericsson Wilkes Nicholson Swanson Ingraham Bristol Ellyson Hambleton Rodman Emmons Macomb Forrest Fitch Corry Hobson Aaron Ward Buchanan Duncan Lansdowne Lardner McCalla Mervine Quick Carmick Doyle Endicott McCook Frankford Davison Edwards Glennon Jeffers Maddox Nelson Baldwin Harding Satterlee Thompson Welles Cowie Knight Doran Earle Butler Gherardi Herndon Shubrick Beatty Tillman Stevenson Stockton Thorn Turner   Other operators  Republic of China Navy Hsien Yang (ex-Rodman) Hsien Yang (ex-Macomb) Nan Yang (ex-Plunkett) (Ellyson was purchased by the Republic of China Navy for spare parts)  Royal Hellenic Navy Doxa (ex-Ludlow) Niki (ex-Eberle)  Marina Militare Aviere (ex-Nicholson)  Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Asakaze (ex-Ellyson) Hatakaze (ex-Macomb)  Turkish Navy Gaziantep (ex-Lansdowne) Giresun (ex-McCalla) Gelibolu (ex-Buchanan) Gemlik (ex-Lardner) Preceded by: Benson class Followed by: Fletcher class List of destroyers of the United States Navy