HISTORY
Greyhounds of the Sea
Official U.S. Navy histories attribute the birth of the destroyer to some significant events that occurred during the last decade of the 18th century. The first involved the introduction of the torpedo boat, "swift, small craft [that] were able to dash in close to larger ships, loose their torpedoes, and dash away." In demonstrating their naval combat contributions in the Chilean Civil War and Sino-Japanese War of 1894, the torpedo boats heightened a global awareness among many of the world's navies of the need for a counter weapon. It was to fulfill this role that the torpedo boat destroyer, later just "destroyer," was born.
Few military platforms in history have witnessed the growth of both mission responsibilities and capabilities experienced by the destroyer. From their initial "torpedo boat destroyer" role, these versatile ships have dramatically expanded their military contributions through the assumption of anti-submarine, air defense, strike warfare, and other unique mission roles.
Given the critical role that destroyers play in U.S. Navy surface fleet inventories, it is somewhat ironic that the service's first encounter with destroyers involved hostile ones attempting to attack a squadron of U.S. Navy ships. On July 3, 1898, during the Spanish-American War, Spanish Adm. Pascual Cervera sent two destroyers against a U.S. Navy squadron in Santiago Harbor. Service histories note that the "American cruisers quickly took aim on the destroyers, blowing one out of the water. An American armed yacht, USS Gloucester, moved in on the second destroyer and sank it. Our Navy, realizing that these destroyers could have inflicted serious damage, sent out orders to speed the American destroyer program, then in its infancy."
The USS Bainbridge (DD 1) was the first ship classified as a destroyer by the U.S. Navy. Built in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the 420-ton destroyer was launched on Aug. 27, 1901, and commissioned in November 1902, subsequently remaining in reserve status until February 1903. The lead ship in her class of 16 ships, she had an overall length of 250 feet, a top speed of 29 knots, a crew of 75, and was armed with two 3-inch guns, five 6-pounders, and two 18-inch torpedo tubes.
In December 1903, USS Bainbridge left the United States, accompanied by four of her sister destroyers, and steamed to the Philippines by way of the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Suez Canal, and Indian Ocean. Arriving near Manila in April 1904, she served in the Far East for the next thirteen years, primarily around in the Philippine Islands and along the China coast.
Even while USS Bainbridge was still serving in Asian waters, the Navy introduced several new modifications and classes of destroyers, including the Hopkins, Lawrence, Truxton, Smith, Flusser, Paulding, Roe, Monaghan, Cassin, Aylwin, O'Brien, Tucker, and Sampson classes. Even more significantly, the roles and missions for U.S. Navy destroyers were already being expanded closer to home. One example occurred on June 1, 1916, when the Smith-class destroyer USS Lamson (DD 18) commanded by Capt. Frederick M. Wise, was joined by the USS Panther (AD 6) in responding to a threatened Caribbean region insurrection by landing U.S. Marines at the port of Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic.
Two months later, Congress approved President Woodrow Wilson's request to build a navy equal to any in the world with the Naval Act of 1916, authorizing 50 destroyers to be built over a three year period. As World War I continued to engulf greater portions of the globe, early United States neutrality was being severely strained by the loss of American lives as a result of German submarine warfare against British merchantmen. The United States protested when the German submarines expanded their torpedo campaign and began sinking American shipping bound for England. The protests, the sinkings, and the loss of lives continued until April 6, 1917, when the United States declared war on Germany.
The first U.S. warships reached the European theater at Queenstown, Ireland, in early May. Commander Joseph K. Taussig's Destroyer Squadron 8 included USS Wadsworth (DD 60), USS Conyngham (DD 58), USS Davis (DD 65), USS McDougal (DD 54), USS Porter (DD 59), and USS Wainwright (DD 62). When Vice Adm. Sir Lewis Bayly, the British commander, asked Taussig when his squadron would be ready for sea after crossing a stormy Atlantic, he famously replied, "We are ready now, sir."
The USS Bainbridge left the southwest Pacific region in August to reinforce the U.S. Navy's battle against the German U-Boats in the eastern Atlantic. Between September 1917 and mid-1918, she operated in the vicinity of Gibraltar, escorting convoys and conducting patrols. Meanwhile, other destroyers from some of the newer class designs were escorting convoys across the North Atlantic. Adm. William S. Sims, USN, persuaded the British to try the convoy system of shipping goods again. The British had tried the system before but, because they seemed to have little defense against the U-boat, decided that it wasn't worth the price. Now, with British supplies running dangerously low and American destroyers helping to combat the submarine menace, the convoy system was reinstated. With American destroyers escorting convoys, the German's submarine toll was reduced: from 900,000 tons in April 1917 to one-third of that by November.
The first German submarine sunk by the U.S. Navy in World War I was the U-58. It was the only U-boat kill of the war by American destroyers. On Nov. 17, 1917, destroyers USS Fanning (DD 37) and USS Nicholson (DD 52) were escorting an Atlantic convoy near the Hebrides. Suddenly, Fanning's lookouts sighted a periscope moving through the sea. Fanning swung about, raced toward the sub at top speed, and began attacking with depth charges. The U-boat partially surfaced. Then, Nicholson joined the fray, making a depth-charge pass of her own. The explosions jammed the sub's diving gear and the U-boat plunged towards the bottom. At about 300 feet, the sub blew ballast and shot toward the surface. Fanning and Nicholson were waiting when the U-boat broke the surface and the destroyers began shelling. This was enough for the Germans, who quickly surrendered. But the U-boat's skipper ordered the seacocks opened and as the destroyers were picking the surrendering Germans off the sub, it eased below the surface never to come up again. Only forty survivors were taken prisoner.
The tables were turned three weeks later, on Dec. 6, 1917, when USS Jacob Jones (DD 61) was torpedoed and sunk by U-53 near the Isles of Scilly off the coast of Great Britain. Sixty-four crewmen were lost in the attack. The U-boat commander surfaced for prisoners and radioed the position of the sinking destroyer to the U.S. naval base at Queenstown, resulting in the rescue of thirty-five surviving sailors. That same month, the Navy commissioned the USS Caldwell (DD 69). The 30-knot Caldwell was the name ship of a class of six destroyers that reintroduced the soon to be widely used "flush deck" hull form to the U.S. destroyer force. USS Wickes (DD 75) followed, escorting a convoy across the Atlantic to the British Isles and returning to the U.S. by way of the Azores.
American destroyers in World War I made some lasting contributions to U.S. seapower. In their 250 battles with German submarines, the gallant little ships laid the groundwork for modern anti-submarine warfare. They had guarded the trans-Atlantic crossing of two million men without the loss of a single life or transport ship. And, by mounting 3-inch anti-aircraft guns, they had foreseen the day when ships would do battle with enemies in the sky. By the end of the "war to end all wars," the U.S. had the largest destroyer fleet in the world, but, the Disarmament Treaty of 1922 caused more than 200 of these valiant ships to be decommissioned while 40 more were scrapped. Not one new destroyer was launched between 1921 and 1934.
America began rebuilding her destroyer forces in the early 1930s against the unmistakable backdrop of increasing Nazi militarization. Forty-five of the new "DDs" were authorized for the last half of the decade. When the war broke out in Europe on Sept. 3, 1939, the United States again, as it had in World War I, "officially" attempted to remain neutral. That neutrality, however, might have seemed questionable to some in light of the agreement, just one year later (Sept. 2, 1940), between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill. That agreement led to the transfer of 50 World War I destroyers to the Royal Navy to assist in combating German U-boats. In return, the U.S. was given 99-year leases to British bases in Bermuda, Newfoundland, and the West Indies. But, once again, it was the German submarine threat that caused the greatest strain to stated neutrality. On the morning of Sept. 4, 1941, just one year and two days following the "Destroyers for Bases Agreement," the destroyer USS Greer (DD 145) was traveling from Newfoundland to Iceland when she picked up a German submarine on her sonar.
A British patrol plane had warned Greer that the U-boat was lurking in her path earlier. The destroyer made and held contact uneventfully for nearly 3 1/2 hours, when suddenly, a torpedo was spotted heading for the ship. Greer turned sharply, avoiding the torpedo, and let loose a salvo of depth charges. Again, a sharp turn and another torpedo charged by the destroyer, which was followed by a salvo of depth charges from Greer. By late afternoon, Greer lost contact and after a three-hour search, she continued on to Iceland. Apparently, the sub had dropped the fight, but the attack prompted President Roosevelt to issue orders to "shoot on sight" any warships within our defensive waters.
In mid-October 1941, just weeks after President Roosevelt had issued his September 11 order, the destroyer USS Kearny (DD 432), in company with the destroyers Plunkett (DD 429), Livermore (DD 431), and Decatur (DD 341), was dispatched on an emergency mission 350 miles south of Reykjavik, Iceland, where a Canadian convoy was being attacked by German submarines. During the ensuing engagement, USS Kearny (DD 432) was torpedoed on her starboard side by one of the German U-boats. Fortunately, the crew was able to confine and minimize the flooding, with Kearny eventually regaining power and making her way to Iceland for repair. Eleven crewmen were killed and 22 others were injured in the attack. Two weeks later, on Oct. 31, 1941, the destroyers USS Reuben James (DD 245), USS Tarbell (DD 142), USS Benson (DD 421), USS Hilary P. Jones (DD 427), and USS Niblack (DD 424) were escorting a convoy of 44 merchant vessels about 600 miles west of Ireland when a torpedo struck and sank Reuben James. With only 45 of the 160-man crew surviving, Reuben James became the first destroyer casualty of World War II.
While World War II saw the destroyers continuing long established roles like convoy protection and submarine engagements, the conflict, coupled with new classes of destroyer platforms, saw the ships expand their critical roles and missions to perform patrol missions, amphibious landing support, shore bombardment, and air defense. On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, the Wickes-class destroyer USS Ward sighted a midget submarine's conning tower and periscope trailing the USS Antares into Pearl Harbor through the open submarine nets. Increasing speed to attack, Ward opened fire and the No. 3 gun scored a direct hit at the junction of conning tower and hull. As the submarine slowed it was caught in a spread of depth charges from the Ward, and sank in 1200 feet of water. Ward had fired the first shots of the Pacific War.
Destroyers also played leading roles in many early operations in the Pacific. One example of these early contributions took place just six weeks following the country's official entry into the conflict, as the tired old destroyers of the Asiatic Fleet fought a hopeless battle for time against the all-conquering Japanese. On Jan. 20, 1942, USS Edsall (DD 219) cooperated with Australian forces to sink Japanese submarine I-124, the first Japanese submarine to be destroyed by forces that included U.S. surface forces. Four days later, destroyers USS John D. Ford (DD 228), USS Parrott (DD 218), USS Paul Jones (DD 230), and USS Pope (DD 225) surprised a Japanese invasion force off Balikpapan, Borneo. The U.S. ships sank 4 of 12 transports and a patrol boat during the nighttime attack known as the Battle of Makassar Strait.
Then on Nov. 25, 1943, Captain Arleigh Burke's Destroyer Squadron 23 intercepted the "Tokyo Express," the American nickname for small units of fast Japanese warships carrying troops and cargo, transporting troops to Buka, just north of Bougainville. During the ensuing Battle of Cape St. George, Burkes' destroyers sank three of the five Japanese destroyers, with the other two leaving the area. On the U.S. side, Burke's Squadron did not take a single hit. Nicknamed the "Little Beavers," Destroyer Squadron 23's performance had "been termed a 'near perfect tactical action' by military historians, the Little Beavers destroyed three ships of a larger Japanese force while sustaining no damage... Captain Burke's ability to lead his squadron in spectacular dashes at high speed earned him the nickname 'Thirty-One Knot Burke'..."
Closer to the European Continent, destroyers played critical roles in the support of World War II amphibious landings. During the June 6, 1944 D-Day landings, service historical summaries note, "At Utah Beach, destroyers Fitch (DD 462), Corry (DD 463), and Hobson (DD 464) were the first ships of the invasion force to shell the shore. At Omaha Beach, destroyers Baldwin (DD 624), Carmick (DD 493), Doyle (DD 494), Emmons (DD 457), Frankford (DD 497), McCook (DD 496), and Thompson (DD 627) came in so close to the beach that their hulls rested on the bottom as their guns raked the enemy strongholds. It was the gunfire support of these and other ships that kept the German army from moving in reinforcements."
Meanwhile, the destroyer's roles and missions continued to expand into air defense assets as Japan introduced "Kamikaze" attacks in the war's waning stages. Destroyers acted as pickets around the fleet to both warn of Kamikaze attacks as well as destroy a proportion and "soak up" some of the damage that would otherwise be inflicted on heavier units of the fleet. On April 6, 1945, for example, USS Bush (DD 529) and USS Colhoun (DD 801) were among the ships that shot down several Japanese planes off the coast of Okinawa. Both Bush and Colhoun were subsequently sunk by the Kamikazes.
Although several destroyers were lost, an example of both their air defense contributions to the fleet during this period, as well as their ordeals, can be seen in Laffey's commander, Frederick Julian Becton's oral history: "Our tour of duty on this picket station was uneventful until the morning of April 16th, when we underwent a concentrated attack by Japanese suicide planes. The attack commenced about 8:27 [a.m.] when we were attacked by four Vals, which split, two heading for our bow and two swinging around to attack us from the stern. We shot down three of these and combined with a nearby LCS in splashing the fourth one. Then two other planes came in from either bow, both of which were shot down by us. It was about the seventh plane that we were firing on that finally crashed into us amidships and started a huge fire. This marked us as a cripple with the flames and smoke billowing up from the ship and the Japs really went to work on us after that..."
The destroyers remained a critical element of U.S. Naval power following World War II. Demonstrating their continuing contributions with the onset of the Korean War, on June 26, 1950, destroyers USS De Haven (DD 727) and USS Mansfield (DD 728) evacuated 700 American and foreign nationals from Inchon, South Korea. Three months later, destroyers would return to Inchon to contribute to the "turning of the tide" in Operation CHROMITE. Following days of bombardment by carrier planes and shelling by cruisers, destroyers and other naval gunfire support ships, elements of the 5th Marines initiated the assault at 6:33 a.m., Sept. 15. By the early morning hours of Sept. 16, their objectives had been secured. During the Korean War, destroyers acted as plane guards and escorted carriers, went close inshore to shell enemy positions, and helped blockade the peninsula to prevent reinforcement and supply to the enemy.
Another significant destroyer-related milestone occurred on Aug. 17, 1955, when Adm. Arleigh A. ("31-knot") Burke became the 15th Chief of Naval Operations, a position he would serve in for three terms. His tenure also coincided with a period of transition and technological innovation for U.S. destroyers. During the Cuban Crisis of October 1962, USS Gearing (DD 710), USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. (DD 850), and USS John R. Pierce (DD 753) were among the numerous ships that "quarantined" Cuba to prevent further construction of Soviet nuclear missiles on the Cuban mainland. The Cuban Missile Crisis ended with Russia removing all missiles, bombers, and equipment out of Cuba on October 28.
Service histories highlight a range of combat operations that these "greyhounds of the sea" also conducted during the Vietnam War. Operations ranged from Operation Market Time, beginning March 11, 1965, when destroyers USS Black (DD 666) and USS Higbee (DD 806) were ordered to inspect native junk traffic, to combat operations on Nov. 18, 1966, when USS John R. Craig (DD 885) and USS Hamner (DD 718) returned fire after being shelled by enemy shore batteries. In parallel, the Navy's destroyers were experiencing an era of technological transformation. Many war-built ships, such as the Sumner/Gearing class destroyers, underwent various modifications to test weapon systems and extend their viable service life in the atomic era. The USS Decatur (DD 936) provides an iconic example. Built as a Forrest Sherman-class destroyer, she was refitted as a guided-missile destroyer in September 1966, her No. 2 and No. 3 5-inch guns replaced with a Tartar missile launcher, receiving the new hull number DDG 31.
Another key milestone in the technological evolution of destroyers occurred on Sept. 20, 1975, when USS Spruance (DD 963) was commissioned. In addition to serving as the first gas turbine-powered U.S. destroyer, USS Spruance represented the first of a highly successful class of anti-submarine warfare destroyers to be armed and later upgraded with new generations of weapon systems. USS Kidd (DDG 993), commissioned July 27, 1981, was the first of another new class of guided missile destroyer. Initially built for Iran, they were sometimes referred to as the "Ayatollah class" before being acquired by the U.S. The Kidds were later sold to Taiwan.
In terms of U.S. destroyer technological milestones, however, few can match the July 4, 1991 commissioning of the USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51). Arleigh Burke represented the first of the most powerful and survivable class of destroyers ever put to sea. Technological subsystems of the "Flight I" Burkes included the Aegis weapons system with the AN/SPY 1-D multi-function radar; the Vertical Launch System, capable of storing and rapidly firing 90 missiles; the SQQ-89 Antisubmarine Warfare System; and the Harpoon and Tomahawk land attack cruise missile systems. Survivability design features were also evident in a return to all steel construction, electromagnetic pulse hardening, and a collective protection system against nuclear, chemical or biological contamination. While these design enhancements have enabled the new class to fight and survive, they also facilitate the multi-mission capabilities that have made destroyers the workhorses of the U.S. Navy. For more than a century, U.S. destroyers have expanded and evolved their roles and missions around the globe. That evolution now continues in the 21st century with the commissioning of DDG 124.
