[WWII] Clemson-class destroyer (USA)

[copeab]

Clemson-class destroyer
Copyright 2010 by Brandon Cope

Shortly after the end of WWI, the US built a series of destroyers of somewhat similar capabilities. The most numerous of these classes were the Clemsons, of which 156 were built. They were similar to the 111 strong Wilkes-class but with improved range. This ships were often referred to as 'four stackers' (they had four exhaust funnels for their four boilers) and 'flush deckers' (the forecastle was not raised, which gave a clean, unbroken line from bow to stern). Sixty-four had been permanently decommissioned before the start of WWII (most in a massive purge in the very early 1930's). Nineteen were sent to Britain and one to Canada, four were converted to minelayers, nine to minesweepers, and fourteen to seaplane tenders. Another seven were converted to high speed transports during the war. Fourteen were lost in action in American service, including four of the minesweeper conversions. Three were sunk as a result of the same naval action on March 1, 1942 when attacked by Japanese battleships, cruisers and aircraft. The rest were retained as destroyers and those not lost during the war were decommissioned and scrapped shortly after the end of the conflict.

The best known of the class is probably the USS Reuben James (DD-245), the first American warship sunk in WWII (torpedoed by a U-boat on October 31, 1941) with 115 crewmen killed. The USS Stewart (DD-224) possibly had the strangest life of any American warship. Badly damaged the day after the Battle of Badung Strait, it was put in drydock on Java but scuttled on March 2 in the face of approaching Japanese forces. A year later, she was raised and partially repaired (two boilers were inoperable) by the Japanese and was used as an escort starting in September 1943. She may have participated in the sinking of two US subs in 1944. She survived the war and was handed over to the US, where she was decommissioned not long afterward.

The ship is laid out with one 4”mount forward of the bridge, the four smoke stacks and boilers, two 4” mounts amidships, the four triple torpedo tube mounts, the 3” gun on a small superstructure, the final 4” mount and the depth charge racks.

The crew is normally 122 men, but this varied by +/-20 on any particular ship. The ship uses 1,185 gallons of fuel oil per hour at routine usage. At a speed of 23 mph, this gives a range of 2,875 miles, or 5,625 miles at 17 mph.

Subassemblies: Medium Destroyer chassis +9, waterproofed Medium Conning superstructure +5, four partial rotation Large AFV open mounts #1-4 +2, one full rotation Large Weapon open mount #5 +2, four partial rotation Small Secondary open mount #6-9 +4
P&P: 2x9,885 kW steam turbines w/2x9,885-kW screw propellers, 125,000-gallon standard fuel tank; 40,000-kWs batteries
Occ: 8 NCS Sup, 6 NCS Body
Cargo: 300 Body

Armor
Body: F 4/120, other 4/30
Superstructure: 4/30

Armament
4x105mm Medium DP Guns/Mark 9 [OM1-4:F) (200 each)
75mm Short Tank Gun Gun/ 3”/23 [OM5:F] (250).
12x21” torpedo tubes [OM6-9:F] (3 each).
2xdepth charge racks [Body:T, facing B] (24 each)
* Link fires both
A total of 100 Mk 7 depth charges were carried

Equipment
Body: 500 bilge, 10 bilge pumps, 300 cargo, 4x2-ton cranes (for torpedoes), 5 fire extinguishers, 100 bunks, 9 cabins, 6 crew stations, 2 hospital beds, 150 man environmental system, 3x6.25-ton external cradles (for whaleboats), 3,600 man/days provisions, precision navigation instruments, very large radio transmitter and very large radio receiver, radio direction finder, workshop. Superstructure: Autopilot, 8 crew stations, precision navigation instruments, fire extinguisher, 2 cabins. OM5: Universal mount

Statistics
Size: 314'x31'x50'
Payload: 549 tons
Lwt: 1,585 tons
Volume: 25,000
Maint.: 8 hours
Price: $572,000

HT: 12
HP: 108,000 [body], 1,200 [superstructure], 225 [open mounts 1-4], 120 [open mount 5], 560 [open mount 6-9]

wSpeed: 40
wAccel: 2
wDecel: 0.5(1)
wMR: .02
wSR: 5
Draft: 9'
Floatation Rating: 3,000 tons

Design Notes
The historical displacement of 1,300 tons was used to calculate performance data. Design draft was 12'; the historical number was used instead.

The design came in between two chassis sizes; the Medium Destroyer chassis was selected as the design was well under weight. Left-over space should be ignored.

During the war, the 3” and 4” mounts were replaced with up to six 3” Mk 10 guns (76.2mm Medium DP guns). Four to six single-mount 20mm guns (20mm Long Ground ACs) and in some cases one twin 40mm mount (40mm Medium Ground ACs) were added to improve protection vs aircraft, especially those in the Pacific. Four to six K-Gun projectors were also added. These AA guns were added to the various conversions; the K-Guns were only added to those that remained destroyers. The 4” guns were then placed on merchants ships (such as the Liberty Ship, p.W:MP124, for use against submarines).

Variants
The Wilkes-class generally had a shorter range (4,600 miles at 17 mph). Instead of a short 3” gun, the carried a pair of 47mm guns. Twenty-seven were send to Britain.

The ships converted to seaplane tenders removed two boilers and their stacks, making room for 50,000 gallons of aviation fuel. This reduced speed to 30 mph. The torpedo tubes were removed and quarters for the aircraft crews were fitted. Additionally, space was used to carry ordnance (bombs, torpedoes and depth charges) for the seaplanes. All the 4” and 3” cannons were removed and replaced with two 3” DP guns.

The fast transport conversions replaced the torpedo tubes with four Higgins boats, replaced all the large guns with three 3” DP guns and added bunks for 120-180 Marines.

In Japanese service, the Stewart (designated Patrol Boat No. 102) had a top speed of 30 mph and was armed with two 3” guns, two 12.7mm HMGs and 72 depth charges. In mid-1944 eight 25mm cannons and four 13mm HMGs were added.