My latest Osprey New Vanguard title, NVG 322: US Navy Gun Destroyers 1945-88: Fletcher class to Forrest Sherman class, examines the ships of the United States Navy (USN) during the Cold War and covers all-its gun destroyers. When thinking of the USN during this period, its huge super carriers or its modern guided missile combatants probably come to mind. In fact, at least during the early Cold War period, the most numerous combatants in this global fleet were its force of destroyers. These destroyers dated from World War II. During the war, the USN executed a huge destroyer construction program and, after the war, it was left with a huge number of destroyers. Of these, only the Fletcher, Sumner, and Gearing classes were considered suitable for continued service. The most important destroyer class of World War II, the Fletcher class, was built in enormous numbers – a total of 175 units. Few of these were kept in service immediately after the war, but during the Korean War, 100 Fletcher-class units were in service. Eighteen of these received modernization to increase their effectiveness as antisubmarine (ASW) escorts and another 40 received minor upgrades to their antiair warfare (AAW) and ASW capabilities. The last Fletcher-class unit did not leave service until 1972.

The follow-on to the Fletcher class was the Sumner class, comprising 58 units. The Sumner class shared the same size hull as the Fletchers but was more heavily armed. A total of 53 saw service in the Cold War. All but seven of these served into the 1970s after receiving ASW and habitability upgrades. The final Sumner class destroyer left USN service in 1975. 

The Gearing class was the ultimate development of the Fletcher class. A total of 93 Gearings were produced based on the original destroyer design, and five more were completed after the war. Because they underwent extensive modernization and served as late as 1983, the Gearing class was the predominate type of destroyer in the USN’s Cold War fleet.

The USN flirted with large destroyer designs in the early Cold War period. Given its postwar supremacy and the low probability of fighting enemy surface forces, any new destroyer had to be designed to handle air and submarine attack. This supremacy also mitigated against large expenditure on destroyers when so many war-built units were available. To achieve the kind of capabilities desired, the new destroyer had to be large. However, the initial design turned out to be so large that it was clearly impossible to build in large numbers. Four large destroyers of the Mitscher class were laid down beginning in 1949. These 5,000-ton full load ships were ultimately considered to be failures, primarily because of their expense and troublesome engineering plants.   

The failure of the Mitscher-class design led to the return of a more traditional destroyer suited for potential wartime production: the design that eventually became the Forrest Sherman class was smaller and emphasized firepower over ASW capability. On a fairly small displacement, the ships carried three of the new 5in/54 guns in single mounts, two twin 3in/50 mounts and had a radius of 4,600nm. This first ship of the USN’s ultimate expression of an all-gun destroyer was laid down in 1953; eventually 18 entered service. Of these, only six remained in an all-gun configuration with the others receiving major ASW and AAW modifications during their careers.

The last ship considered in the book is the unique Norfolk, an ASW ship and not really a traditional destroyer design. This large ship was based on a wartime cruiser hull but was typed as a large destroyer when completed. The design maximized ASW to allow performance as a submarine killer of the most advanced submarines of the day. Not completed until 1953, Norfolk was far too expensive for serial production. As a one-of-a-kind design, the vessel spent its career as an experimental ship.

The gun destroyers of all classes are the forgotten ships of the USN’s Cold War operations. As the most numerous combatants in the fleet, they served all over the world and saw action in two wars and many other hot spots. By the 1960s, they were unable to handle modern submarine and airborne threats and were gradually replaced by more capable units designed with greater ASW and AAW capabilities. Even after leaving USN service, the Fletcher, Sumner, and Gearing classes continued to serve all over the world in many different foreign navies.  

During the Cold War, USN operations were centered around carriers. These were protected by virtually all other components of the fleet, including a large number of highly sophisticated guided missile cruisers and destroyers. However, during the early phases of the Cold War, these impressive missile-armed combatants did not exist. Carrier escort duties were performed predominantly by the gun destroyers built during, and in the immediate aftermath of, the Second World War. Facing no expected opposition from enemy surface fleets, these ships were expected to provide ASW and AAW protection to the fleet. As they were modernized, first in the 1950s and later during the massive Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) program in the early 1960s, the Fletcher, Sumner, and Gearing classes were increasingly focused on ASW.

Fletcher-class destroyers were excellent ships when first produced. As they did not compare favorably to the subsequent Sumner and Gearing classes, they were not heavily modernized during the Cold War. Had the Soviets built a massive submarine fleet during the first stages of the Cold War, the USN would have invested in the ASW modernizations of large numbers of Fletchers as a counter balance. Even though they were not extensively modernized, the Fletchers still proved useful as mobilization reserves and, as shown during the Korean conflict, as shore bombardment platforms. 

The USN preferred the Sumner and Gearing classes because of their powerful six-gun main batteries. Being somewhat larger than the Fletchers, the Gearings were also better able to receive modernization. All existing Sumner and Gearings were in service during the Korean War – an impressive total of 151 units. Almost all of these ships were modernized in some way and most received a FRAM rebuild. They served extensively off Korea and Vietnam in shore bombardment roles during which many were damaged by artillery, mines, or even aircraft. The iconic gun destroyer of the Cold War is a modernized Gearing class destroyer.

However, modernization of the Sumner and Gearing classes was only partially effective. Though they remained excellent shore bombardment platforms by virtue of their four or six 5in/38 guns, in other warfare areas they were more limited. As even the USN recognized, by the late 1950s, the 5in and 3in guns on destroyers were ineffective against modern air targets. This left USN gun destroyers virtually undefended against modern air and missile attack. The same vulnerability held true against modern submarines. ASW exercises during the early Cold War period found USN destroyers ineffective in detecting submarines; when a detection was made, ASW weapons of the period were inadequate.   

The USN’s first attempt to build the ultimate gun destroyer ended in failure since the Mitscher class was too expensive for mass production. However, the class began the trend of mounting fewer, but more capable weapons. Placing only two 5in guns on a large destroyer resulted in an apparently under-armed ship, but the new guns were automatic and were equal to a 5in/38 main battery twice as large. The ships sacrificed gun firepower to mount a significant ASW capability; this led to criticism that they sacrificed too much firepower for this capability. The follow-on Forrest Sherman class handled well and possessed good seakeeping qualities, but the day of the all-gun destroyer had passed. These ships were already obsolescent when they were designed.

The full story of the USN’s all-gun destroyer designs, modernization, and operations, can be found in NVG 322: US Navy Gun Destroyers 1945-88: Fletcher class to Forrest Sherman class.