The 1940s represented the zenith of a technological era when machines displayed their muscle on the outside and when their performance depended more on an operator’s skill than on computational science. On land, at sea, and in the air, the period spawned visceral designs that still excite interest today; and among warships, none were more advanced than the destroyers – the scrappy “tin cans” – those most versatile of surface combatants upon which every larger ship type depended as a first line of defense against all forms of attack.
By 1941 the term “destroyer” had come to mean a compact fighting machine, bursting with crew, and with serious hitting and staying power. In addition to the enormous machinery needed to drive it well above its theoretical hull speed, such a ship carried as much armament as deck space and stability would permit. Inevitably its small size also made it a natural choice for any assignment where larger ships were ill-suited or too expensive to risk, from giving battle in confined waters to maintaining station on exposed radar picket lines to delivering the mail. Not surprisingly, by the end of World War II, nations around the world had placed in commission more than 1,000 destroyers large and small – and of all these, none earned more acclaim than the US Navy’s 2,100-ton Fletcher class and its larger Allen M. Sumner- and Gearing-class derivatives.
Fletcher-class destroyer La Vallette in a drawing made at sea on a navigation chart of the Philippines. Using whatever media were available on board, shipmate George Eisenberg produced more than 350 works and emerged from World War II as the Navy’s most prolific combat artist, later honored for “capturing the souls of our sailors and ships ... in a hauntingly realistic and personally touching way.” (Courtesy of George S. Eisenberg, georgeseisenberg.com)
Their numbers alone would have ensured recognition: by the end of World War II, 287 had entered service – doubling the US Navy’s destroyer force – including 175 Fletchers, the largest destroyer class ever built. More significant was their thoroughbred design, in which was achieved a long-sought-after balance of ruggedness and seaworthiness, armament, speed, and protection. As built, they were also striking in appearance – the Fletchers in particular exhibiting hull proportions, grace, and overall harmony worthy of a yacht.
For those who knew them, however, their real renown stemmed from their record in battle. Manned by a mix of regular Navy veterans and wartime recruits who trained hard and fought harder, they became the US Navy’s workhorses during three years of combat in the Pacific. There, on a grand stage on which nearly all of them saw action, the “fighting Fletchers” and late-war Sumners answered every threat and carved out for themselves a place among the outstanding fighting ships of all time.