Description
The hedgehogs and 3-inch (76 mm) guns were removed from all ships during the 1960s and 1970s. In addition the fixed torpedo tubes were replaced by two triple 12.75 inches (324 mm) Mark 32 torpedo tube mounts.
Eight of the class were modernized to improve their ASW capabilities, becoming the Barry class. These ships were fitted with an eight cell ASROC launcher in place of the No. 2 5-inch (127mm) gun, and with a variable-depth sonar system.
Four of the destroyers—John Paul Jones (DD-932), Parsons (DD-949), Decatur (DD-936), and Somers (DD-947)—were converted to guided missile destroyers.
As a test platform, the Hull (DD-945) carried the Navy's prototype 8"/55 caliber Mark 71 gun light-weight gun from 1975-1978 when the program was canceled, and the 5-inch mount was restored. USS Hull remains the only modern destroyer-type to carry an 8-inch (203 mm) gun.
Nine ships were constructed by Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine, five were built by Bethlehem Steel at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts, two were built by Ingalls Shipbuilding at Pascagoula, Mississippi and two were built by Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company in Seattle, Washington.
Of the 18 completed, nine were disposed of in fleet training exercises, five were sold by Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) for scrapping, two are museums and two are available for donation as a museum and memorial.
These destroyers used the hull numbers 931 to 951, skipping over the numbers used to designate the war prizes DD-934 (the Japanese ex-Hanazuki), DD-935 (the German T-35), and DD-939 (the German Z-39).
Read more about this topic: Forrest Sherman Class Destroyer
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