Forrest Sherman-class (DD-931)

Summary

Description

The Forrest Sherman-class destroyers represented the first class of post-WWII destroyers commissioned by the US Navy, with a fleet of 18 ships entering service from 1955 until their retirement in the late 1980s. These vessels saw their armaments significantly altered throughout their period of operation. Marking a significant shift in naval design, four of these destroyers were converted into guided-missile destroyers, and the class also laid the groundwork for the subsequent Charles F. Adams-class guided-missile destroyers.

Manufactured across four different shipyards, the Forrest Sherman-class destroyers were constructed by Bath Iron Works, Bethlehem Steel at the Fore River Shipyard, Ingalls Shipbuilding, and Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company, with some destroyers initially built as destroyer leaders. They were assigned sequential hull numbers from 931 to 951, excluding numbers reserved for war-prize vessels.

Initially, these destroyers were the largest US destroyers ever built and possessed a formidable array of weaponry. They were equipped with three 5-inch/54 caliber guns, 4 3-inch/50 caliber AA guns, hedgehogs, and torpedoes for anti-submarine warfare (ASW). However, during the 1960s and 1970s, their hedgehogs and 3-inch guns were removed, and fixed torpedo tubes were replaced with Mark 32 triple torpedo mounts. Later ships incorporated a new automatic boiler combustion control system and a modified anchor setup, being listed as Hull-class destroyers in certain references.

Significant modernizations were applied to these ships. Four destroyers—John Paul Jones, Parsons, Decatur, and Somers—underwent transformation into guided-missile destroyers, equipped with Tartar missiles. Additionally, eight destroyers underwent modernization under the program SCB 251 to enhance their ASW capabilities, with changes including the fitting of an eight-cell ASROC launcher and a variable-depth sonar, resulting in the Barry sub-class.

A notable aspect of the operational history of the Forrest Sherman class includes the USS Hull being used to test the 8"/55 caliber Mark 71 gun, an experiment that was unique to Hull and did not continue beyond the program's cancellation in 1978.

Technical specifications