Fletcher Class Destroyers

Fletcher Class Destroyer circa World War II

The Fletcher Class Destroyer was a "man of war" in every sense of the word. From her knife-like bow to her trim stern her lines tell you that she was built for speed. She bristled with guns, torpedoes and depth charges. It is apparent at a glance that this was a ship built for one purpose - ATTACK. It is very apparent that armament rather than armor is accented. The defenses were her speed and maneuverability.

In WW-II the Fletcher Class Destroyer did many things and did them well. She was built to be the most versatile ship in the Navy. Because of her tremendous capabilities the destroyer was necessary in every type of Naval Operation.

First of all, the destroyer is the primary opponent of the submarine. Only a destroyer or destroyer escort has the detection equipment to seek out and actively and accurately pinpoint an enemy submarine. During WW-II only a destroyer and destroyer escort had the weapons in sufficient quantity to attack and sink a submarine.

Secondly, the destroyer was a prime opponent of attacking enemy aircraft. With accurate, long range radar and excellent plotting capabilities, the destroyer can detect approaching hostile aircraft and vector friendly planes to intercept them. And, if they get close - the Fletcher Class Destroyer has three types of guns to actively combat the enemy planes.

Third, the Fletcher Class Destroyer was a prime opponent of enemy surface ships, using their torpedoes and radar controlled 5-inch guns, the destroyer can battle it out against much bigger and heavier ships.

Fourth, the destroyer carries her destructive power to the enemy on shore. Steaming close to the shoreline, destroyers use their 5-inch guns to bombard enemy beaches before our assault forces make an amphibious landing. Their gunfire support pinpoints enemy positions allowing our forces ashore to advance. They stand by for targets of opportunity designated by our personnel ashore.

All fast striking Naval forces were ringed with destroyers for protection. Destroyers operate far ahead of the attack force as pickets to give early warning of approaching enemy aircraft. They also screen the convoys of merchant ships to protect them from submarines, aircraft and surface attack.

Name a Naval operation and you will find that destroyers were there in numbers and in the forefront.

There is an absolute necessity for teamwork in destroyers - it is the way of destroyer life, it sets destroyer men apart from other Navy men. Their existance is a separate way of life - a life of informal rigid discipline necessitated by living in close quarters - a life of depending on each other - a life of constant effort toward perfection - a life of daily coping with the sea in all her moods.

Destroyer men do not have an easy life. But, they would not have it any other way. They have to be rugged to withstand the rigors of the sea and the way it can affect a small ship. They have to be smart - to work the thousand and one pieces of complicated machinery, electronic and gunnery equipment. They have to be well disciplined - for each man must learn to act automatically for if he fails in combat, lives may be lost.

During the long hard years of the Pacific war the Fletcher Class Destroyers became legends written in blood, sweat, glory and sacrifice. Steaming on their own, escorting convoys or serving with the main fleet, they wrote history that defies comprehensive description. Their guns and torpedoes lashed out at capital Japanese ships with telling effect in the many seesaw battles around the Solomons. As the great island taking campaign began, their firepower belched salvo after salvo in fire support missions, often battling enemy shore batteries at point blank range. Frequently, the Fletchers fought hard and long, withdrawing from the firing line only when their ammunition was virtually exhausted.

But, it would be off the bloody shores of Okinawa in the spring of 1945 that the Fletcher Class Destroyer fought their greatest combined battle of the war. Taking Okinawa was considered essential prior to the invasion of Japan proper. This would be a last-ditch campaign for the Japanese. Okinawa was so close to the Japanese homeland that they launched the full fury of their Kamikaze effort against the Navy. Attacking in droves and intent on dying for the Emperor the Kamikaze of the "Devine Wind" sought to break the back of the powerful invasion fleet. For a time it seemed that they may succeed. Day after day and night after night, despite intensive withering anti-aircraft fire that downed over 7,800 Japanese planes, they continues to plunge from the sky in explosive laden aircraft intent only on destroying themselves and their hapless floating targets. More than a thousand ships, large and small, were damaged in this fierce battle that rages on for 82 long days and nights.

No ships felt the vicious sting of this onslaught more than the destroyers on Radar Picket Stations as early warning sentinels. The Navy would lose over 5,000 men, not counting the wounded. A total of 36 ships were lost in this ferocious assault - among them 23 destroyers sunk or so badly damaged they had to be scrapped.

It was this devastating blood bath of lost sailors and the 12,500 soldiers and marines killed on Okinawa that led to the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Heroshima. The U.S. Navy, and especially the destroyer sailors, would long remember the hell of the war’s last bitter battle.

Each destroyer was a floating microcosm of the nation and culture far away. Yet, even in their stifling cramped quarters, crewmen somehow shared the strains of wartime life at sea in a way that would forever bond them as shipmates. They were men at war in a ship of war and each firmly believed their ship was the finest "bucket" in the fleet. When the last call to General Quarters sounded, the men who manned the Fletcher Class Destroyers could well boast of having fought the long road to victory from the Solomons to Tokyo Bay - establishing a record of valor and accomplishment that will never be repeated. As a single class, the Fletchers earned the most battle stars in WW-II - 873 in all.

Now the 175 Fletcher Class Destroyers are history. Fortunately, three have been preserved as museum ships for today’s generations. USS KIDD DD-661, the best restored ship in the historic fleet, can be seen at Baton Rouge, LA, USS CASSIN YOUNG DD-793 at Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, MA and the USS SULLIVANS DD-537 at Buffalo, NY. They survive as proud reminders of a class of warship that was the backbone of America’s Destroyer Fleet for almost 30-years. The Fletcher Class Destroyers and the proud sailors who manned them deserve to be remembered into eternity.