The Smith-class destroyers were the first ocean-going torpedo-boat destroyers in the United States Navy, and the first to be driven by steam turbines instead of the reciprocating engines fitted in the sixteen earlier and much smaller torpedo-boat destroyers ordered under the Act of 4 May 1898. and are sometimes considered to be Flusser-class ships. Also, since Flusser was completed first, some period documentation refers to the entire class as Flussers.
The first three of the class were ordered under the Act of 29 June 1906 "to have the highest practical speed, and to cost, exclusive of armament, not to exceed seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars each". The remaining pair were ordered under the Act of 7 March 1907 "to have the highest practical speed, and to cost, exclusive of armament, not to exceed eight hundred thousand dollars each".
Design
These were the first turbine-powered destroyers in US service, and the last to be coal-fired. Surprisingly, turbines were dictated by cost; when bids were opened, all of the turbine-powered proposals were lower than all of the reciprocating proposals.
It was recognized that destroyers would now be fighting other destroyers rather than torpedo boats, and that destroyers also needed more offensive (aka torpedo) capability to take over the torpedo boats' role, while retaining the range and seakeeping qualities to operate with the battle fleet. smaller guns were deleted to maximize the number of larger guns. This followed a trend set by the rearmament of the British s in 1906, which reflected the "all big gun" design of the battleship . A third torpedo tube was added, and one torpedo reload per tube was provided. In 1911 it was noted that torpedoes fired from the stern mount at a ship's speed much above 20 knots ran erratically due to the stern wave deflecting them.
Engineering
Unlike the earlier 16 destroyers, these turbine-driven vessels were triple-screw. The ships' steam turbines were direct drive and arranged in a similar manner to Sir Charles Parsons' Turbinia, with a high-pressure turbine on the center shaft exhausting to two low-pressure turbines on the outboard shafts. To attempt to find a middle ground between the turbines' high efficient speed and the propellers' low efficient speed, the maximum shaft speed was 724 rpm, over twice that of a modern ship.
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! scope="col" | Name
! scope="col" | Hull no.
! scope="col" style="max-width: 9em;" | Shipyard
! scope="col" style="max-width: 6em;" | Laid down
! scope="col" style="max-width: 6em;" | Launched
! scope="col" style="max-width: 6em;" | Comm-<br>issioned
! scope="col" style="max-width: 6em;" | Decomm-<br>issioned
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Fate
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! scope="row" |
! scope="row" | DD-17
|William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia
| 18 March 1908
| 20 April 1909
| 26 November 1909
| 2 September 1919
| Bombing target until <br>sold 20 December 1921 to Joseph G. Hitner for scrapping
|-
! scope="row" |
! scope="row" | DD-18
|William Cramp & Sons
| 18 March 1908
| 16 June 1909
| 10 February 1910
| 15 July 1919
| Sold November 1919 for scrapping
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! scope="row" |
! scope="row" | DD-19
|New York Shipbuilding, Camden, New Jersey
| 28 April 1908
| 14 July 1909
| 21 December 1909
| 17 July 1919
| Sold November 1919 to T. A. Scott of New London, Connecticut for scrapping
|-
! scope="row" |
! scope="row" | DD-20
|Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine
| 3 August 1908
| 20 July 1909
| 28 October 1909
| 14 July 1919
| Sold November 1919 for scrapping
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! scope="row" |
! scope="row" | DD-21
|Bath Iron Works
| 3 August 1908
| 17 August 1909
| 3 December 1909
| 31 July 1919
| Sold November 1919 to T. A. Scott of New London, Connecticut for scrapping
|}
See also
References
Bibliography
External links
- Tin Can Sailors @ Destroyers.org – Smith class destroyer
- DestroyerHistory.org Smith class destroyer
- DestroyerHistory.org Flivver type destroyers
- NavSource Destroyer Photo Index Page
- DiGiulian, Tony Navweaps.com 3"/50 Mks 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8
- DiGiulian, Tony Navweaps.com Pre-WWII US Torpedoes
- US Navy Torpedo History, part 2