Fletcher DDs in action (Repost)

When USS NICHOLAS (DD-449) was commissioned on 4 June 1942. Ihe even! was a sig­nificant one lor the U.S. Navy. It marked the entry into service of the first of 175 Fletcher Class destroyers. These destroyers not only represented a landmark design which would serve with distinction throughout the Second World War. but provided the basis lor the later Sumner and Gearing classes. The Fletcher Class originated from a design submitted to the Naval Board in January of 1940 and appro\ed by the Secretary of the Navy on 27 January 1940. This design called for a ship of 2. KM) tons, powered by a 60.000 shp plant, with a length of 369 feel and capable of speeds up to 38 knots. She was to be armed with torpedoes, five inch guns (five turretsl. one quadruple I.I inch anti-aircraft gun mount, twenty-eight depth charges, and lour .50 caliber machine ^uns. Once the design was approved, orders for some twenty-four ships were placed and by the end of 1940. this number had been increased to 100. The shipyards involved were San Pedro and Long Beach. California. Chickasaw. Alabama. Orange. Texas and Seattle. Washington. With the U.S. entry into the Second World War. additional orders were placed bringing up the total to 175. During late 1941 and early 1942. orders were issued to revise the ship's anti-aircraft arma­ment. The 1.1 inch guns were replaced with one twin 40\i\t Bofors mount and the .50 caliber machine gun mounts were replaced with single 20mm Oerlikon cannons. The early ships were all delivered without their SC air search and S(i surface search radar installations. For anti-submarine duty, the ships were each filled with two depth charge tracks on the stem with eight depth charges and three K-gun throwers on each side of the rear deck.

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