060B - Ship Shape: Destroyers

SPECIFICATIONS

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LENGTH: 314 Feet 5 inches

BEAM: 31 Feet 9 Inches

CREW: 101 Officers and Enlisted Men

MAX. SPEED: 35 Knots

ARMAMENT:

4 x 4-in and 1 x 3-in Cannons

12 21-inch Torpedo tubes

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At the outset of War in the Pacific, the American fleet was old and outdated. Although the Clemson-class of Destroyers boasted 159 ships in total, the design had been built from 1919 to 1922, just after the First World War, and was derived from the older Wickes-class Destroyers, with a concentration on engine modifications. This allowed the designers to remove two boilers and replace them with storage space for both fuel and depth charges.

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The main task for any Destroyer involved a two-part process regarding defense against the U-Boat (submarine). Firstly, the Destroyer provided perimeter support, which allowed a buffer zone between all enemy ships and the Capital Ships, such as Aircraft Carriers. Destroyer crews were often ordered to dump oil into the fuel tanks of their engines. When oil burned inside the engines, it created a thick, black smoke and provided a smoke screen. This smoke screen blocked sight lines for enemy ships and planes.

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Secondly, the Destroyers were equipped with a salvo of depth charges. These large barrel-like cylinders were equipped with depth-sensing fuses and a load of explosives. Each depth charge could be manually set and then rolled off the rear of the Destroyer on depth charge tracks. When the charge hit the desired depth,it exploded. The concussion from the blast wasn’t meant to blow up the intended submarine (although that was preferred), it was merely meant to pierce the hole or rip the weld seams, causing the submarine to either sink or be forced to surface. Either way, the Destroyers would then attack the submarine, usually taking the crew as prisoner and torpedoing the submarine and sending it to the sea bottom.

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