Fletcher-class destroyer

The Fletcher class is a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. The class was designed in 1939 as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlier destroyer leader types of the Porter and Somers classes. Some went on to serve during the Korean War and into the Vietnam War. The United States Navy (USN) commissioned 175 Fletcher-class destroyers between 1942 and 1944, more than any other destroyer class, and the design was generally regarded as highly successful. The Fletcher ships had a design speed of 38 knots (70 km/h; 44 mph) and a principal armament of five 5-inch (127 mm) guns in single mounts with 10 21-inch (530 mm) torpedo tubes in two quintuple centerline mounts. The Allen M. Sumner and Gearing classes were Fletcher derivatives. The long-range Fletcher-class ships performed every task asked of a destroyer, from antisubmarine and antiaircraft warfare to surface action. They could cover the vast distances required by fleet actions in the Pacific and served almost exclusively in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II, during which they accounted for 29 Imperial Japanese Navy submarines sunk. In a massive effort, the Fletcher-class ships were built by shipyards across the United States, and after World War II ended, 11 were sold to countries that they had been built to fight against: Italy, Germany, and Japan, as well as other countries, where they had even longer, distinguished careers. Three in the U.S. and one in Greece have been preserved as museum ships.