List Of Destroyer Classes Of The United States Navy
The first automotive torpedo was developed in 1866, and the torpedo boat was developed soon after. In 1898, while the Spanish–American War was being fought in the Caribbean and the Pacific, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt wrote that torpedo boats were the only threat to the American navy, and pushed for the acquisition of torpedo boat destroyers. On 4 May 1898, the US Congress authorized the first sixteen torpedo boat destroyers and twelve seagoing torpedo boats for the United States Navy.
In World War I, the U.S. Navy began mass-producing destroyers, laying 273 keels of the Clemson and Wickes class destroyers. The peace time years between 1919—1941, resulted in many of these flush deck destroyers being laid up. Additionally, treaties regulated destroyer construction. During World War II, the United States began building destroyers with five-gun main batteries, but without stability problems.
The first major warship produced by the U.S. Navy after World War II (and in the Cold War) were "frigates"—the ships were actually designated destroyer leaders but later reclassified as guided missile destroyers. Other classes were produced, including the last all-gun destroyers. A special class was produced for the Shah of Iran, but due to the Iranian Revolution these ships could not be delivered and were added to the U.S. Navy.
The Arleigh Burke class, introduced in 1991, has been the U.S. Navy's only destroyer class in commission since 2005; construction is expected to continue through at least 2012. A future class, Zumwalt, is also planned. The Zumwalt class is expected to number three ships.
Read more about List Of Destroyer Classes Of The United States Navy: Pre–World War I, World War I, Between The World Wars, World War II, Cold War and Beyond
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