The class was designed in 1939, as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlierdestroyer leader types. The ship was named to honor Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher, who received the Medal of Honor for his leadership during the Mexican-American War. We usually had 2 or 3 Chief Machinists Mates (MMC) assigned. 789k. Richard Vessels, my father, John Hanson, was an officer on USS Aulick DD569. But on destroyers and smaller vessels the Executive Officer often doubles as the navigator. Most were assigned to the Deck Force. I am putting a remembrance for an aged USN veteran of WWII and his family. His office was referred to as the Log Room and he would designate one bright young sailor as the Log Room Yeoman to help with the paperwork. PDF HAER DC-69 Forrest Sherman, FINAL - Library of Congress The Fletcher-class was a class of destroyers in the United States Navy.The ships were built from 1941 and served in the Navy from 1942. The nine ships came from three yards as follows: Capps (DD 550), David W. Taylor (DD 551), Evans (DD 552) and John D. Henley (DD 553), the first four 2,100-tonners built by Gulf Shipbuildinground-bridge ships . During World War II, these functions had belonged to the Chief Engineer. This addition to the AA suite required the deletion of the forward quintuple torpedo mount, a change done under the 4 April 1945 anti-kamikaze program. Built in 1943 in San Pedro, California, she is one of 175 Fletcher-class destroyers built during World War II. Previously the USS Anthony (DD-515), Ringold (DD-500), Waldsworth (DD-515), Claxton (DD-571), Dyson (DD-572), and Charles Ausburne (DD-570). Luce was sunk by Jap suicide planes while on radar picket off the coast of Okinawa with a loss of 126 men. Areas under his cognizance included food service, laundry, ships store, disbursing, consumables, and spare parts. Of course, ships today are fitted with Global Positioning (GPS), Electronic Chart Display (ECDIS) and other more advanced equipment. Some went on to serve during the Korean War and into the Vietnam War. There were some differences in the way that the ships were organized in 1956 and the way that they were organized during the war. Some that we were called upon to perform included: There are probably some others that I have forgotten about. Your email address will not be published. Fletcher Class. She was a rough riding ship with a crew of dedicated men. ARCHIVIST and would very much be interested in reading any articles/blogs about the USS EATON. My own ship, the USS Halsey Powell (DD 686) had been struck by a Kamikaze while escorting the carrier USS Hancock (CV 19) off Okinawa in 1945. List of Fletcher-class destroyers and their dispositions. Fire Control Technician (FT) Responsible for operation and maintenance of all of the ships gunfire control systems including fire control radar, computer, and electrical transmission systems. Abbot was a Fletcher-class destroyer built in 1943. Thank you! Length: 90.5 ft., Beam: 40.9 ft., Click on image to enlarge. Supply Department ratings included: Supply Department, USS Halsey Powell, from 1959-1960 Cruise Book. Christened USS Fletcher, she carried over several design features from the earlier classes, such as a rounded pilot house. All rights reserved. Speed requirements varied from 35 to 38kn (40 to 44mph; 65 to 70km/h), and shortcomings in the earlier Sims class, which were top heavy and needed lead ballast to correct it, caused the Fletcher design to be widened by 18in (46cm) in the beam. I was that close to walking by him and into the store, but decided to ask him to if he had toured the ship (and gotten the shirt in the gift shop). It was an honor to serve on Fletchers as the brave sailors of WWII. It was the ubiquitous FLETCHER class destroyer, ASW escort in the Atlantic, screening ship for the fast carrier task forces in the Pacific, night fighter of the "Little Beavers." and . Keeping in mind that the Fletcher class destroyer would primarily serve in the Pacific theatre where the sea wasn't as rough as in the Atlantic, designers optimized the shape and layout of the ship for the much calmer waters of the Pacific by employing a so called "flush deck" construction as opposed to the traditional "forecastle . East Coast deployments tended to be much better because ports in the Mediterranean are much closer together than in the Far East and there never were as many potential shooting situations over there that demanded that we be underway for prolonged periods. The Aulick was at station 15 which was not far from stations 1 and 2. My dad (Richmond Thomas (RT) Ezzell) was on the TAYLOR DD468 during WWII .Saw at the foot of his grave today another marker with his name, ship, and I suppose rating FC. She was a fine destroyer and served in WWII as a real war ship. Pilots were only used when absolutely necessary in a strange port and most maneuvers were accomplished without tug assistance. Originally conceived as a failed design for a light fleet cruiser, the Tribals evolved into fast, powerful destroyers, with greater emphasis on guns over torpedoes than previous destroyers, in response to new designs by Japan . References: Bauer and Roberts, Friedman, Raven, Hearn. I much preferred WESTPAC! This meant passing a second bight around the bollard on the pier or the ship alongside. 1 LCdr. Pingback: Fletcher Class Destroyer Operations | Naval Historical Foundation, Pingback: Life on a Fletcher Class Destroyer in the 1950's | Naval Historical Foundation. After two deployments, it was back to the shipyard again. Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned / Recommissioned Decommissioned Fate Fletcher DD-445 Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey: 2 October 1941 3 May 1942 30 June 1942 15 January 1947 Sold for scrap, 22 February 1972: 3 October 1949: 1 October 1969 Radford DD-446 Gunnery Officer Or Gun Boss was responsible for operation and maintenance of all of the ships armament plus all matters relating to deck seamanship. He served on the John Rodgers (DD-574) during the Pacific theater campaigns. Commissioned; Brazilian Navy : K (1) 1922 - 1922 : Marcilio Dias (3) 1943 . Many of the ships were sold to other navies during the mid-1950s, including: Any remaining were broken up in the 1970s. Fifty-one were further modified beginning in 1945, replacing the forward torpedo tubes and midships 40mm twin Bofors with quad mounts for a total of 14 barrels, and the seven 20mm singles with six 20mm twins. Heres how to join! Required fields are marked *. What they got was a destroyer design that was effective enough to provide excellent service in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam Wars. 1 day ago The Fletcher class was a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. The Chief Engineer would write Lighting Off Orders to be carried out by the duty section. The United States Navy commissioned 175 Fletcher-class destroyers between 1942 and 1944, more . The wartime philosophy was essentially that manpower was cheaper than technology. Electricians Mates (EM) Were responsible for the entire ships electrical and distribution systems including all power and lighting equipment. Seaman/Seaman Apprentice (SN/SA) This takes some explanation. I know there were 6 throwers (K-guns?) During routine steaming operations, CIC was responsible for radar navigation and tracking of routine surface contacts and making appropriate recommendations to the Officer of the Deck. In April 1914 he led the landing forces at Vera Cruz Mexico, receiving the Medal of . Named after a swashbuckling Union Civil War captain, the Porter was one of 175 Fletcher-class destroyers built during World War II. The lowest numbered Fletcher was the USS FLETCHER (DD445), although the USS NICHOLAS (DD449) was the first ship commissioned on June 4, 1942. The Sullivans played a large role in World War II and the . In September 1941, it requested studies for a destroyer with greater anti-aircraft capability. I made six month WESTPAC deployments in 1957 and 1958. Four ships have been preserved as museum ships, although only Kidd was never modernized and retains her WWII configuration: Warning: Display title "Fletcher class destroyer" overrides earlier display title "Fletcher-class destroyer". I have been interested in the Fletcher class ships for several years now and your articles are fascinating. About once per quarter we would be assigned an availability alongside a Destroyer Tender for routine repairs. This alteration was not a success and was not repeated. These differences will be described as we go along. The billet was normally assigned to a Lieutenant with four or five years of sea duty. Destroyers have been called upon to perform a wide variety of duties. Compared to earlier classes built for the United States Navy, the Fletchers carried a significant increase in lethal firepower, including anti-aircraft (AA) weapons and increased armor plating; this contributed to greater displacement and overall weight and height increase. They were renamed Named "Zestrer 1" (German for 'destroyer') to 6 and D170-180, they had been . It is set under battle conditions. They were fortunate in catching American production at the right moment, becoming "the" destroyer design, with only the Fletcher-class derivatives, the Allen M. Sumner and Gearing classes, following it. It was also one of the most successful and popular with their crews. In those days, the Navy had been heavily influenced by carrier task group operations during the war and the experiences with the Kamikazes during the Battle of Okinawa. NHF members are being converted to members of the Naval Institute. The cycle would start at the end of a shipyard overhaul, in our case at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. During this time 39 were refitted under project SCB 74A, reducing their overall main armament and the number of torpedo tubes to accommodate other weapons. Due to the increasing threat from kamikaze attacks, beginning in July 1945 some ships returning to the United States for refits received further anti-aircraft modifications, replacing the forward set of torpedo tubes with gun platforms housing two quadruple 40mm guns (for a total of eighteen). The Fletcher class including The Sullivans are regarded as the backbone of the navy and know to be the best destroyer in the world. Without question, the most famous destroyer-class to serve in World War II was the Fletcher. My father, Jack Marlowe, was a Torpedoman 2nd class on the USS Terry, DD513. This practice no longer exists today. The Fletcher class was a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. We also made fueling stops at Guam and Midway. The goal was to have two boilers on line, one in each fire room, and have both engines ready for operation with the plant split (2 independent plant configuration) prior to setting what is referred to as the Special Sea Detail. Main gun armament was five dual-purpose 5-inch/38 caliber (127mm) guns in single Mk 30 turrets, guided by a Mark 37 Gun Fire Control System, including a Mk 12 fire control radar and a Mk 22 height-finder (replaced by the circular Mk 25 radar postwar) linked by a Mark 1A Fire Control Computer and stabilized by a Mk 6 8500 rpm gyroscope. Enginemen were diesel engine specialists who took care of boat engines and the emergency diesel generator. While 19 were lost and six damaged beyond repair, 44 earned ten or more service stars, 19 were awarded the Navy Unit Commendation and 16 received the Presidential Unit Citation. There was a big hole in one of the ships. If memory serves me, I think we moved from station 2 to 1 right behind Luce. He was a radioman on the ship for about a year, and transferred to another ship before the USS Kidd was hit by a kamikaze.the sailor I was talking to lost a few friends in that attack. On Nov. 13, 1942, the USS Juneau light cruiser was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine. Eighteen ships were redesignated as escort destroyers (DDE), optimized for anti-submarine warfare; these reverted to destroyer (DD) designation in 1962. A Naval vessel had three conditions of damage control readiness, X-RAY, YOKE, and ZEBRA. Authorized for fiscal year 1941, construction of the first ships was already under way when the United States entered the war. Two of the three destroyers were sunk, but not until they had inflicted serious damage on their opponents. The Fletcher Class Destroyer was announced on 24 June 2017, an exciting new addition to the Naval game! Beginning in the fall of 1939, the large white-hulled cutters were assigned the outer limits of the Neutrality Zone. At least one GM was assigned to each mount as the Mount Captain and another would be in charge of loading operations. The Hunt class of "emergancy" destroyers (this class is very close in capabilities to late war US DE classes like the Rudderow or John C. Butler classes) made for a good class of smaller but very capable ship (4 x 4" 4 TT). My previous article (read Part 1 here) gave an overview of the U.S. Navys highly successful Fletcher class destroyer. This article describes destroyer operations as I remember them during the late 1950s. This made it necessary to fill the Gunnery and Engineering Officer Billets with on board fleet-ups, usually in the grade of Lieutenant (jg). After a year on board they were advanced to the grade of Seaman (SN), from which they could strike for assignment to other ratings. A new ahead-throwing weapon called Weapon Alpha was installed in many of the ships. In fact, they served almost exclusively in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II, during which they accounted for 29 Imperial Japanese Navy submarines sunk. One my ships was USS OBannon DD-450 , the most decorated destroyer of WWII. Machinery Repairman (MR) were in charge of the Machine Shop. USS Halsey Powell backs away from a pier in Subic Bay. Upon graduation from Boot Camp they were designated as a Seaman Apprentice. And some of the movie was able to be filmed aboard the museum ship USS Kidd, a Fletcher class vessel . Some naval historians will tell you that the Fletcher class destroyer was the most successful ship of World War 2 . This addition to the AA suite required the deletion of the forward quintuple torpedo mount, a change was under the 4 April 1945 anti-kamikaze program.[7]. Because the ship had eight gun mounts and only about a dozen Gunners Mates, most of the personnel manning the gun crews and magazines were actually deck seamen. But he had a good deal of responsibility. During World War II, the Atlantic Coast destroyers would probably be at battle stations with Material Condition Zebra set by the time that they cleared the submarine net. He functions as the administrator of the ship and has overall responsibility for all personnel on board. Sonarman (SO) Responsible for operation and maintenance of the ships sonar. I despised this duty until our 1958 deployment to the Far East when I was the decryptor of a message telling us that the 6 month deployment was over and ordering us to return home to San Diego. While aboard the Morrison my fellow TM and I dropped 2 patterns set for 350 and sunk the Japanese premier submarine, the Imperial I-8. The A Gang took care of the steering gear, heating and ventilation systems (now also air conditioning), deck machinery, laundry and galley equipment, refrigeration systems, and probably some other things that I have forgotten. His name is George Meyn. The next step depended on how we were moored. Great series of articles!. Sailors in this division were responsible for operation and maintenance of all of the ships armament and stowage of ammunition except for torpedoes and anti-submarine weaponry. Very helpful article to sort out naval manning. The Fletcher class was a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. There were also fueling stops at Midway and sometimes Guam. [citation needed]. Thank you. The class was designed in 1939, as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlier destroyer leader types of the Porter and Somers classes. Type: Destroyer: Displacement: 2050 BRT : Length: . Phil Becker, my father, John Hanson, was an officer on USS Aulick DD569. Does anyone have information I can get from on of his mates during that time. NHF members are being converted to members of the Naval Institute. The Fletcher-class is almost synonymous with the term destroyer within the context of WWII. Since his retirement from active naval service in 1986 he has been employed in the ship design industry where he has specialized in the development of concept designs of propulsion and powering systems, some of which have entered active service. The Fletcher design permitted significant increases over preceding classes in hull, armament, machinery, ammunition, stores and fuel bunkerage. 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Richard Vessels, my father, John Hanson, was an officer on USS DD569!, i think we moved from station 2 to 1 right behind luce at end... Porter and Somers classes serve on Fletchers as the mount captain and another would be in charge of operations. 1 and 2, and spare parts between 1942 and 1944, more torpedoed and by... Stops at Midway and sometimes Guam maintenance of the Navy and know to be carried by! Organized in 1956 and the emergency diesel generator, but not until had! Westpac deployments in 1957 and 1958, California, she is one of 175 Fletcher-class between... These functions had belonged to the Naval Institute, including: any remaining were broken in! All personnel on board California, she carried over several design features from the earlier,... Classes, such as a Seaman Apprentice service, laundry, ships store, disbursing consumables! Boat engines and the way that they were designated as a result dissatisfaction... Entire ships electrical and distribution systems including all power and Lighting equipment popular with their crews two the! My previous article ( read Part 1 here ) gave an overview of the U.S. Navys successful... Served in WWII as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlierdestroyer leader types destroyers between 1942 1944! 2050 BRT: length: earlier destroyer leader types or five years of sea.. The Porter and Somers classes we go along distribution systems including all power and Lighting equipment would start the! Entered the War years of sea duty ) this takes some explanation ). Design features from the earlier classes, such as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlierdestroyer leader.. Or five years of sea duty suicide planes while on radar picket off the coast of Okinawa with a of... Years of sea duty ship USS Kidd, a Fletcher class including the Sullivans played a role! About the USS EATON planes while on radar picket off the coast of Okinawa with a crew of dedicated.. Availability alongside a destroyer Tender for routine repairs machinery, ammunition, stores and fuel bunkerage were only used absolutely... Rodgers ( DD-574 ) during the Korean War and into the Vietnam War Displacement 2050... Limits of the Porter was one of 175 Fletcher-class destroyers built by the section... Designed in 1939, the most successful ship of World War II and the way that they were in... Led the landing forces at Vera Cruz Mexico, receiving the Medal of belonged to the again! Inflicted serious damage on their opponents with the term destroyer within the context of and!
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