Cold War and Beyond
The first major warship the U.S. Navy constructed after World War II was an all-weather, anti-submarine hunter-killer, designated "destroyer leader" (DL), but referred to as a "frigate". In 1975, the twelve remaining Mitscher- and Farragut- classes were reclassified as guided missile destroyers (DDGs 35-46).
Derived from the Fletcher concept, the all-gun Forrest Sherman class destroyer was the successor to the Fletcher, the Allen M. Sumner, and the Gearing classes. The following Charles F. Adams classes added a guided missile launcher on an enlarged hull.
The Spruance class was designed to serve as all-weather anti-submarine defense for aircraft carrier task forces. The Spruance class destroyers were the first ships in the United States Navy powered with gas turbines—four marine jet engines driving two shafts with reversible-pitch propellers. The Kidd class were four enlarged Spruance class destroyers, intended for the Iranian Navy. In 1979, a revolution took place in Iran, the Shah was dethroned but instead of cancelling the four ships, they were taken into the U.S. Navy, where they were nicknamed the "Ayatollah" class.
The USS Arleigh Burke, the lead ship of the Arleigh Burke class, was the first destroyer named after a living person—World War II Admiral Arleigh Burke. At her commissioning, the USS Arleigh Burke was extolled as the most powerful surface warship ever built. The USS Arleigh Burke is one-third longer and correspondingly heavier than the Fletcher class destroyers of the squadron Burke commanded in World War II; but about the same complement. The Arleigh Burke class destroyers were based around the Aegis Combat System, like the larger Ticonderoga class cruisers. The Arleigh Burke class was introduced in four "flights": Flight I, consisting of Arleigh Burke; Flight IA composed of 20 ships; Flight II, composed of 7 ships; and Flight IIA, composed of 34 ships. The Arleigh Burke class became the U.S. Navy's only active destroyer class when the last member of the Spruance class was decommissioned in 2005.
The Zumwalt class destroyer, a future class, is planned to cost US$3.3 billion for the first unit; subsequent units will cost an estimated US$2.5 billion; however, the average cost could rise to US$5 billion or more.
| Class name | Number of ships |
First ship laid down | Last ship commissioned | Notes | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitscher | 4 | 1949 | 1954 | Originally designated "destroyer leader". | |
| Forrest Sherman | 18 | 1953 | 1959 | Derived from the Fletcher concept. | |
| Farragut | 10 | 1956 | 1961 | Originally designated "destroyer leader". The Farragut class of the Cold War was also called the Coontz class. | |
| Charles F. Adams | 23 | 1957 | 1964 | Guided missile derivative of the Forrest Sherman class. | |
| Spruance | 31 | 1972 | 1980 | First United States Navy ship to use gas turbines. | |
| Kidd | 4 | 1978 | 1982 | The Kidd class was based upon the Spruance class, but enlarged for the Iranian Navy. | |
| Arleigh Burke | 62 (3+ planned) | 1988 | Ships still being built. Lead ship was first destroyer to be named after living man. | ||
| Zumwalt | 0 (3+ planned) | 2008 | Future class. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Destroyer Classes Of The United States Navy
Famous quotes containing the words cold and/or war:
“Knighterrantry is a most chuckleheaded trade, and it is tedious hard work, too, but I begin to see that there is money in it, after all, if you have luck. Not that I would ever engage in it, as a business, for I wouldn’t. No sound and legitimate business can be established on a basis of speculation. A successful whirl in the knighterrantry line—now what is it when you blow away the nonsense and come down to the cold facts? It’s just a corner in pork, that’s all.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“As a war in years of peace
Or in war an armistice
Or a father’s death, just so
Our parting was not visualized....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)