Sims class destroyer

The "Sims"-class consisted of 12 destroyers in the United States Navy, built in seven various shipyards, and commissioned in 1939 and 1940. It was the last United States destroyer class completed prior to World War II. All "Sims"-class ships saw action in World War II, and seven survived the war. No ship of this class saw service after 1946.

Of the five ships lost, four were at the hands of the Japanese and one at the hands of the Germans. Three of the seven survivors were undergoing overhauls that were left unfinished at war’s end and ultimately scrapped. The remaining four seaworthy ships were used as targets during the 1946 Operation Crossroads atomic tests at Bikini Atoll. One was sunk by the first blast, while the other three were sunk as targets two years later after serving as experimental platforms.

The "Sims" class ships were the sixth and final class of the "third-generation" 1500-ton pre-war destroyers that modernized the United States navy in the 1930's. They were the last built with a single engine room, changed with the "Benson"-class destroyers for increased survivability. However they were also the first increased in hull length, and the precursor for the numerous larger, faster destroyer classes that marked war-time construction.

hips of the class

See also

Gridley class destroyer

External links

* [http://www.destroyerhistory.org/goldplater/simsclass.html "Sims" class destroyers] at [http://www.destroyerhistory.org/index.html Destroyer History Foundation]
* [http://hera.mni.fh-giessen.de/~hg6339/data/us/destroyers/1937_cdd_sims-class.htm Short information about the class]
* [http://www.destroyers.org/Class/cl-Sims.htm Tin Can Sailors @ destroyers.org - Sims class destroyer]