Fletcher
US destroyer class

'Later Fletcher' destroyer DD.680 McNair

Fletcher class (119 ships plus 62 'Later Fletchers')
Type: US Destroyer class, built 1940-45.
History: Under the provisions of the disarmament treaties, the US Navy was inhibited from designing to maximum dimensions to match the Japanese 'Special type', the Fubuki Class, and so the original basis for the design of the Fletcher was a 1500-ton ship with the same armament as the previous Benson and Bristol Classes. The emphasis on endurance led to an addition of some 500 tons, but this extra displacement was used to enhance the anti-aircraft battery, and not the surface armament.

Only 24 of the class were under construction at the time of Pearl Harbor, but another 100 were immediately ordered, plus two experimental variants. Several ships were cancelled.

The anti-aircraft armament was soon augmented, and the quadruple 1.1-in (28-mm) mounting between No 3 and No 4 5-in (127-mm) guns was replaced by a twin 40-mm (1.57-in) Bofors, while the 20-mm (0.79-in) Oerlikons were in some cases reduced to four, or increased to a maximum of 11 singles. As more Bofors guns became available a second twin mounting was added aft, with a total of four or six 20-mm (0.79-in) guns. The fourth configuration, towards the end of the war, was three twin 40-mm (1.57-in) mountings and 10 or 11 Oerlikons, but under the threat of kamikaze attacks many finished the war with no fewer than five twin 40-mm (1.57-in), backed up by seven 20-mm (0.79-in) singles. This was achieved without sacrificing torpedo tubes, a remarkable testimony to the margin of stability of the original design. The flush-decked hull proved to be very tough, and a great improvement over the previous Bristol design, and the Fletchers can claim to be the finest all-round class of destroyers to serve in WW2.

Orders were placed in 1942 for a further 56, known as the 'Later Fletchers'. They were identical in design, but had a lower bridge and director control tower. Most were completed with heavy AA armament approved for the original Fletchers by 1943-44 five twin 40-mm (1.57-in) and 7 20-mm (0.79-in) guns although some had fewer 40-mm (1.57-in) guns.

Fletcher class destroyer in front of a Essex class aircraft carrier in the Pacific.

The Fletcher Class received its baptism of fire in the Solomons, and Chevalier, Strong, De Haven and Brownson were lost in the confused actions which followed the landings on Guadalcanal. Two, the Hoel and Johnston, were sunk during the tremendous fight against heavy odds between Admiral Sprague's escort carriers and the Japanese fleet off Samar in October 1944, while the Spence and Abner Read were sunk by air attack during the landings in Leyte Gulf.
The worst losses were suffered during the assault on Okinawa, when kamikazes and gunfire accounted for the Hutchins, Pringle, Leutze, Thatcher, Luce, Bush, Evans, Haggard, Longshaw, Morrison, William D Porter, Bell, Twiggs, Callaghan, Halligan, Colhoun and Little. The majority of these were not sunk outright, but were so badly damaged that they were written off as not worth repair.

The Fletchers formed the backbone of the postwar destroyer-strength of the US Navy and were in service until 1975.

Users: US Navy (in WW2, post-war many other navies).

Transferred to the Federal German Navy in 1959, the Fletcher class US destroyer Claxton (DD.571) became the German Z.4.

3d model of 'Later Fletcher class' destroyer McNair (DD.680).

This 3d model is a current element of the WW2 game WW2 Total. The data for production, movement and combat of the Axis and Allies units are here !