Mahan Class Destroyer

Mahan Class Destroyer

As built cira 1936:

  • 5 × 5 inch/38 caliber guns in five Mark 21 DP pedestal mounts. Mounts 51 and 52 were partially enclosed, and mounts 53, 54, and 55 were open. (pictured)
  • 12 × 21 inch torpedo tubes (4×3). One tube mount was on the centerline between the stacks, and the other two were port and starboard just behind the aft stack.
  • 4 × .50 caliber machine guns. Two on a platform just forward and below the bridge, and two on a deck house just forward of 5" mount No. 54.
  • 2 × depth charge roll-off stern racks.

c. 1944 (This varied from ship to ship depending on when and where they were refitted. See specific ship article for more accurate configurations − if available.):

  • Mk33 Gun Fire Control System
  • 4 × 5 inch/38 caliber guns in four Mark 21 DP pedestal mounts. Mounts 51 and 52 were partially enclosed, and mounts 53 (old 54), and 54 (old 55) were open mounts.
  • 4 × Bofors 40mm guns in (2×2). Replaced old 5" mount No. 53.
  • 6 to 8 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannons. Four replaced the .50cal mounts, and two more mounts were installed in port and starboard gun tubs on the 01 deck just forward of the superstructure. On some ships, there were two additional mounts on platforms port and starboard of the after stack.
  • 12 × 21 inch torpedo tubes.
  • 2 × Depth charge roll-off stern racks.
  • 4 × K-gun depth charge projectors. Port and starboard on the main deck next to 5" mount No. 53.

The Mahan-class destroyers served the United States Navy before and during World War II. The lead ship of the class was named for Alfred T. Mahan, a US Naval officer and influential historian and theorist on sea power.

The 18 ships were built by various shipyards between 1935 and 1937. The last two ships, USS Dunlap and USS Fanning were modified slightly and sometimes referred to as the Dunlap class. The Mahans were the second and most numerous of the six classes of 1500-ton pre-war destroyers that modernized the United States Navy.

Six of the ships were combat losses during World War II, and two were expended in post-war atomic bomb tests. The remainder were deactivated and scrapped shortly after the end of the war.

The spectacular explosion of the forward magazine of USS Shaw provided one of the most iconic photographs of the Attack on Pearl Harbor.

The fictional Mahan-class destroyer USS Keeling is the setting for C.S. Forester's novel The Good Shepherd.

Read more about Mahan Class Destroyer:  Ships in Class

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