picture 193121

While adhering to the First London and (for the Benson class) Second London Treaties, these US destroyers were capable warships. Balanced designs, they could fight other surface warships and serve anti-submarine and anti-aircraft roles. Fast, good sea boats, they had outstanding range, but the designs were compromises. While not the “best” destroyer in any one role, they qualified as second-best in all. Lessons learned building and operating them were used in wartime construction of the Fletcher, Allen B. Sumner, and Gearing classes. Poor quality US Navy torpedoes compromised their effectiveness in surface combat. The artwork shows the designs for (1) USS Dale and Monaghan and (2) USS Bailey and Coghlan.