_underway_c1938.jpg) USSMcCall in 1938 | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Gridley-class destroyer |
| Builders | |
| Operators |  United States Navy |
| Preceded by | Mahan class |
| Succeeded by | Bagley class |
| Built | 1935–1938 |
| In commission | 1937–1946 |
| Completed | 4 |
| Retired | 4 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Destroyer |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 340 ft 10 in (103.89 m) |
| Beam | 35 ft 10 in (10.92 m) |
| Draft | 12 ft 9 in (3.89 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 shafts |
| Speed | 38.5 knots (71.3 km/h; 44.3 mph) |
| Range | 5,520 nautical miles (10,220 km; 6,350 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement |
|
| Sensors & processing systems | Mk33 GFCS[1] |
| Armament |
|
TheGridley-classdestroyers were a class of four 1500-ton destroyers in theUnited States Navy. Named forCharles Vernon Gridley, they were part of a series of USN destroyers limited to 1,500 tonsstandard displacement by theLondon Naval Treaty and built in the 1930s.[2] The first two ships were laid down on 3 June 1935 and commissioned in 1937. The second two were laid down in March 1936 and commissioned in 1938. Based on the precedingMahan-class destroyers with somewhat different machinery, they had the same hull but had only a single stack and mounted sixteen 21 inch (533 mm)torpedo tubes, an increase of four. To compensate for the increased torpedo armament weight, the gun armament was slightly reduced from five5"/38 caliber guns (127 mm) to four.[3]USS Maury (DD-401) made the highest trial speed ever recorded for aUnited States Navy destroyer, 42.8 knots.[4] All four ships served extensively inWorld War II, notably in theSolomon Islands and theBattle of the Philippine Sea, withMaury receiving aPresidential Unit Citation.[5]
The fourGridleys were part of a series of three classes with similar characteristics laid down 1935-1937. The other two were theBagley class (8 ships) and theBenham class (10 ships). All three featured four 5 inch (127 mm) guns and sixteen 21 inch (533 mm)torpedo tubes in four quadruple mounts as built, the largest number of torpedo tubes on any US destroyers.[3] Although all had only one stack, they differed primarily in their machinery. TheGridleys were designed byBethlehem Shipbuilding Company with advanced high-pressure boilers (also built by Bethlehem) but turbines generally similar to the earlierFarragut class, which limited their range. TheBagleys were a Navy design that duplicated the machinery of the preceding long-rangeMahan class. TheBenhams were aGibbs & Cox design with another new boiler design that allowed a reduction from four boilers to three, with an efficient turbine arrangement resembling theMahans'.[2][3][6]
TheGridleys'boilers were a significant upgrade from theMahan class, with steam pressure increased from 465 psi (3,210 kPa) to 565 psi (3,900 kPa),superheated in both cases to 700 °F (371 °C).[2][7] The increased steam pressure contributed to fuel economy. The boilers wereYarrow-type boilers built byBethlehem Steel. However, the turbines were generally similar to theFarragut class, and thus were less efficient than those in theMahan class. They were Parsons-typereaction turbines built byBethlehem Steel, with single-reductiongearing and no cruising turbines.[8] The result was a reduced range of 5,520 nautical miles (10,220 km; 6,350 mi) compared to 6,940 nautical miles (12,850 km; 7,990 mi) for theMahans.
TheGridleys introduced an armament of four5 inch (127 mm) dual purpose guns (anti-surface andanti-aircraft (AA)) in single mounts and sixteen 21 inch (533 mm)torpedo tubes in quadruple mounts for US destroyers.[3] The class was initially equipped with theMark 11 torpedo orMark 12 torpedo, which were replaced by theMark 15 torpedo beginning in 1938.[9] Their near-sisters theBagleys andBenhams duplicated this armament, the heaviest intorpedoes ever on US destroyers. Compared with theMahans, they sacrificed one gun for four additional torpedo tubes. It was suggested that these ships could use "curved ahead fire", using the adjustable post-launch gyro angle of their torpedoes to launch a sixteen-torpedo spread ahead of the ship.[3] One reason for the heavy destroyer torpedo armament was that, alone among the major navies, the last nine of the seventeen USTreaty cruisers built in the 1920s and 1930s lacked torpedoes; eventually all of the US Treaty cruisers' torpedoes were removed in 1941 in favor of additional heavy AA guns.[10]
As with most other US destroyers of this period, the 5 inch guns featured all-angle power loading and weredirector controlled, making them as effective as the technology allowed against aircraft. By late 1942, radioproximity fuses (VT fuses) made them much more effective. As in the last twoMahans, the two forward 5 inch guns were inenclosed mounts, while the after guns were open. However, in common with all US surface combatants in the 1930s, the light AA armament was weak; only four.50 caliber machine guns (12.7 mm) were equipped. It was apparently felt that the heavy AA armament would shoot down most incoming aircraft in all situations, but theattack on Pearl Harbor showed that this was not true.[11] TheGridleys' weak AA armament was partially remedied after Pearl Harbor by replacing the machine guns with seven20 mm Oerlikon cannon (0.8 in).[12] TheGridleys were alone among the 1930s and 1940s destroyers in not receiving any40 mm Bofors guns (1.6 in) due to stability concerns.[4][13] Most of these destroyers had some or all torpedo tubes replaced by light AA guns during World War II, but not theGridleys.
As with their contemporaries, theGridleys'anti-submarine warfare (ASW) armament started with twodepth charge racks aft. Photographs show that these were augmented during World War II by fourK-gun depth charge throwers.[12]
From their completion through mid-World War II, the fourGridleys formed Destroyer Division 11 of Destroyer Squadron 6. Based atPearl Harbor in 1941, the squadron was at sea escortingUSS Enterprise (CV-6) on 7 December 1941, then was dispersed among carrier task forces during theMarshalls-Gilberts raids of early 1942. WhileGridley andMcCall were sent to theAleutians in June,Maury was at the battles of theCoral Sea andMidway, and then went toGuadalcanal, where she participated in theBattle of Tassafaronga in November.Craven andMcCall escorted convoys to Guadalcanal during this period. The four ships of the class were reunited to screenUSS Saratoga (CV-3) for theNew Georgia landings in June 1943; then Maury was at theBattle of Kolombangara in July, and withCraven for theBattle of Vella Gulf in August.Maury then received aPresidential Unit Citation for the period 1 February 1942 to 6 August 1943.[5]Gridley andMaury were at theGilbert Islands/Tarawa invasion in November of that year. All four destroyers operated together in theMarshalls andMarianas campaigns (including theBattle of the Philippine Sea) through mid-1944, and, lessCraven (which went to the Atlantic), continued screeningescort carriers off thePhilippines (including theBattle of Leyte Gulf) andFormosa into 1945.[4]
In 1945, due to their poor suitability for adequate anti-aircraft upgrades, the three ships remaining in the Pacific were withdrawn.Maury, with a crack in her deck that was no longer deemed worth repairing, was decommissioned in October, two months after hostilities ceased.McCall was overhauled atNew York but then decommissioned in November.Gridley was overhauled in New York in early 1945, andCraven at Pearl Harbor in late 1944. Both operated in the Atlantic and Mediterranean until January 1946, but then returned to Pearl Harbor where they were decommissioned in 1946. In common with nearly all pre-war US destroyers, all were scrapped by the end of 1948.[4]
| Name | Hull no. | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Decommissioned | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gridley | DD-380 | Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation,Fore River Shipyard | 3 June 1935 | 1 December 1936 | 24 June 1937 | 18 April 1946 | Scrapped 1947 |
| Craven | DD-382 | 25 February 1937 | 2 September 1937 | 19 April 1946 | Scrapped 1947 | ||
| McCall | DD-400 | Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation,San Francisco California | 17 March 1936 | 20 November 1937 | 22 June 1938 | 30 November 1945 | Scrapped 1947 |
| Maury | DD-401 | 24 March 1936 | 14 February 1938 | 5 August 1938 | 19 October 1945 | Scrapped 1946 |
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.