USSSims on trials in 1939, still missing its Mk37 director
Class overview
Name	Sims class
Builders	Bath Iron Works, ME (2) Federal Shipbuilding, NJ (2) Newport News Shipbuilding, VA (2) Boston Navy Yard, MA (2) Norfolk Naval Shipyard VA (1) Charleston Navy Yard, SC (1) Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, (1)
Operators	United States Navy
Preceded by	Benham class
Succeeded by	Benson class
Built	1937–1940
In commission	1939–1946
Completed	12
Lost	5
Retired	7
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	1,570 tons (light standard) 2,293 tons (full load)
Length	348 ft 3 in (106.15 m)
Beam	36 ft 1 in (11.00 m)
Draft	13 ft 4 in (4.06 m)
Installed power	3Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 2gearedsteam turbines, 51,138 shp (38,134 kW) on trials
Propulsion	2 shafts
Speed	37knots (69 km/h; 43 mph) on trials
Range	5,640 nmi (10,450 km; 6,490 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	10 officers, 182 enlisted (peacetime) 16 officers, 235 enlisted (wartime)
Sensors & processing systems	Mk37 GFCS (introduced) 1 ×SC radar
Armament	As designed: 5 ×5 in (127 mm)/38 cal Mark 12 guns (5×1) 4 ×.50 caliber machine guns (12.7 mm) 12 ×21 inch (533 mm)torpedo tubes (3 × 4) (one mount centerline) 2 ×depth charge racks Typical 1941: 4 ×5 in (127 mm)/38 cal Mark 12 guns (4×1) 8 ×.50 caliber (12.7 mm)machine guns 8 × 21 inch (533 mm)torpedo tubes (2 × 4) (both mounts centerline) 2 × depth charge racks Typical 1944: 4 ×5 in (127 mm)/38 cal Mark 12 guns (4×1) 4 ×40 mm Bofors guns (1.6 in) (2 × 2) 4 ×20 mm Oerlikon guns (0.8 in) 8 × 21 inch (533 mm)torpedo tubes (2 × 4) (both mounts centerline) 6 ×K-gun depth charge throwers 2 × depth charge racks
Notes	fuel capacity: 444 tons

TheSims-classdestroyers were built for theUnited States Navy, and commissioned in 1939 and 1940. These twelve ships were the lastUnited States destroyer class completed prior to the American entry intoWorld War II. AllSims-class ships saw action in World War II, and seven survived the war. No ship of this class saw service after 1946. They were built under theSecond London Naval Treaty, in which the limit on destroyerstandard displacement was lifted, but an overall limit remained. Thus, to maximize the number of destroyers and avoid developing an all-new design, theSims class were only 70 tons larger as designed than previous destroyers.^[1] They are usually grouped with the 1500-ton classes and were the sixth destroyer class since production resumed with theFarragut class in 1932.^[2]

The class served extensively inWorld War II, and five of the class were lost in the war. Of the five ships lost, four were at the hands of theJapanese and one at the hands of theGermans. The class served onNeutrality Patrols in the Atlantic in 1940-41. Except forRoe,Wainwright, andBuck, the class was transferred to thePacific shortly after theattack on Pearl Harbor. All of the ships saw extensive combat service. At the war's end in August 1945, three of the seven survivors were undergoing overhauls that were left unfinished, and were ultimately scrapped. The remaining four seaworthy ships were used as targets during the 1946Operation Crossroads atomic tests atBikini Atoll. One was sunk by the first blast, while the other three were sunk as targets two years later after serving as experimental platforms.

Compared with theBenhams, theSims class were increased 8 feet (2.4 m) in hull length, and started a trend of increased size that led to the numerous larger 2100-ton destroyer classes that marked wartime construction. The class was designed byGibbs & Cox. They incorporated streamlining of the bridge structure and the forward part of the hull, in an attempt to increase speed and improve fuel economy. They also had an additional 5-inch gun, with the torpedo tubes re-arranged so one less quadruple mount could be used while maintaining an eight-tube broadside.^[3]

WhenAnderson, first of the class to be delivered in early 1939, was found to be 150 tons overweight and dangerously top-heavy due to insufficientmetacentric height, it touched off a redesign and rebuilding of the class. One 5-inch (127 mm) gun (No. 3) and one quadtorpedo tube mount were removed, with another torpedo tube mount relocated to the centerline.^[3] It was determined that an underestimate by theBureau of Engineering of the weight of a new machinery design was responsible, and that theBureau of Construction and Repair did not have sufficient authority to detect or correct the error during the design process. ActingSecretary of the NavyCharles Edison proposed consolidation of the design divisions of the two bureaus. When the bureau chiefs could not agree on how to do this, he replaced both chiefs in September 1939. The consolidation into the newBureau of Ships was finally effected by a law passed by Congress on 20 June 1940.^[4]

TheSims class nearly duplicated the advanced machinery of the precedingBenham class, they were the last built with the boiler rooms adjacent forward and the engine rooms adjacent aft and therefore the last one-stack US destroyers. Steam pressure was 600 psi (4,100 kPa) (one reference says 565 psi),superheated to 715 °F (379 °C).^[2][5] Features that improved fuel economy included boilereconomizers, double reductiongearing, and cruising turbines. The main turbines developed 51,138 shp (38,134 kW) onSims' trials and were manufactured byWestinghouse.^[6][7]

TheSims class introduced the advancedMark 37 Gun Fire Control System.^[8][9] With a turret-mounted gundirector as in previous systems, the Mark 37 system incorporated theFord Mark 1 Fire Control Computer mounted in a plotting room deep in the hull, which enabled automatic aiming of guns against surface or air targets with firing solutions in near real-time.^[10][11] The system would evolve and be used extensively to control most 5-inch guns on destroyers and larger ships, and remained in service on US ships until the 1970s.

The class was completed with five 5-inchdual purpose guns (anti-surface andanti-aircraft (AA)); the two forward mounts and the aftermost mount wereenclosed. The class proved to be top-heavy, and a quadruple torpedo mount and one 5-inch gun (No. 3) were removed by 1941. Early units were completed with 12 torpedo tubes in three quad mounts, one mounted centerline, the others port and starboard, while later ships were completed (and all eventually modified) with eight in two quad mounts, all on the centerline. TheMark 15 torpedo was equipped.^[12] The 5 inch guns were removed some time after the torpedo tubes were removed in most cases.^[13]

The as-built light AA armament of four.50 caliber machine guns (12.7 mm), the same as previous 1500-ton classes, was inadequate. This was partially remedied by increasing the number of guns to eight by 1941. As with most US Navy warships, the light AA armament was replaced with40 mm Bofors and20 mm Oerlikon guns within 18 months after theattack on Pearl Harbor. Initially, this was four 40 mm in two twin mounts and four single 20 mm guns.^[14] In 1945, with the emergingkamikaze threat and the dwindling threat fromJapanese surface ships,Mustin,Morris, andRussell had all torpedo tubes removed in favor of four additional 40 mm guns for a total of eight in four twin mounts and were authorized replacement of the 20 mm single mounts by twin mounts; the latter part was not completed.^[15]

The as-builtanti-submarine armament of twodepth charge racks was augmented by up to sixK-gun depth charge throwers during the war.^[16]

The class served extensively in World War II, and five of the class were lost in the war. Of the five ships lost, four were at the hands of the Japanese and one at the hands of the Germans. The class served on Neutrality Patrols in theNorth Atlantic,Caribbean, and South Atlantic in 1940–41. Except forRoe,Wainwright, andBuck, the class was transferred to the Pacific shortly after theattack on Pearl Harbor, where they often screenedaircraft carriers. Two were sunk as a direct result of this duty by the same torpedo spreads that killed their carriers;Hammann escortingUSS Yorktown in theBattle of Midway andO'Brien escortingUSS Wasp on 15 September 1942 (O'Brien did not sink until 19 October).

Walke became the only ship of the class to be sunk in action against enemy surface warships when she attempted to attack Japanese warships at thenaval battle of Guadalcanal, 15 November 1942, but was ambushed by Japanese destroyers. She was hit once from a six torpedo spread, fired from theJapanese destroyer Ayanami, that blew off her bow as she promptly went down and sank.^[17]

In the Atlantic,Wainwright escorted the ill-fatedconvoy PQ 17, and withRoe supportedOperation Torch, the invasion of North Africa.Buck, damaged in a collision, missed Torch but was sunk by aU-boat offSalerno,Italy in 1943. The remainder of the class saw hard service in the Pacific. At the war's end in August 1945, three of the seven survivors were undergoing overhauls that were left unfinished, and were ultimately scrapped. The remaining four seaworthy ships were used as targets during the 1946Operation Crossroadsatomic tests atBikini Atoll. One was sunk by the first blast, while the other three were sunk as targets two years later after serving as experimental platforms.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toSims class destroyers.

• Benham-classdestroyer
• Gridley-classdestroyer
• List of destroyer classes of the United States Navy
• List of United States Navy losses in World War II

• Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991).Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants.Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
• Friedman, Norman (2004).US Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History (Revised ed.). Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-442-3.
• Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger (1980).Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946. London: Conway Maritime Press.ISBN 0-83170-303-2.
• Silverstone, Paul H. (1965).U.S. Warships of World War II. London: Ian Allan.
• Zajkowski, Edward J.; Wright, Christopher C. (June 2021). "Question 4/58".Warship International.LVIII (2):101–115.ISSN 0043-0374.
•  This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

• Sims-class destroyers atDestroyer History Foundation
• Tin Can Sailors @ destroyers.org -Sims class destroyer articleArchived 2015-06-25 at theWayback Machine
• Tin Can Sailors @ destroyers.org -Sims class destroyer specsArchived 2015-07-06 at theWayback Machine
• Sims class at DestroyersOnline.com
• "Goldplater" destroyers atDestroyer History Foundation
• Comparison of 1500-ton classes atDestroyer History Foundation
• USSSims and USSHughes General Information Book with as-built data atDestroyer History Foundation
• NavSource Destroyer Photo Index Page

• Sims-class destroyers
• Destroyer classes
• World War II destroyers of the United States

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