The Mahans were fitted with the first emergency generators, which replaced the storage batteries of earlier classes. In silhouette, they were similar to the larger Porter-class destroyers that immediately preceded them. To improve the anti-aircraft field of fire, their tripod foremast was constructed without nautical rigging. The Mahans typically had a tripod foremast with a pole mainmast. ![]() These changes led to a ten percent increase in displacement over the Farraguts. Double reduction gearing also reduced the size of the faster-turning turbines and allowed cruising turbines to be added. This change ushered in a new steam propulsion system that combined increases in pressure and temperature with a new type of lightweight steam turbine, which proved simpler and more efficient to operate. The traditional destroyer machinery was replaced with a new generation of land-based machinery. All five 5 in/38s were kept and remained dual purpose guns, able to target aircraft as well as ships, but only No. 4) to make room for the third quadruple torpedo tube the two middle torpedo tubes were moved to the sides, and released the centerline space for extension of the aft deckhouse. 3 gun was moved to the aft deckhouse (just ahead of No. The Chief of Naval Operations objected, and recommended against "subordinating the gun to the torpedo", and a compromise was struck that included a new engineering plant and a new battery arrangement for the Mahan class and others. The Navy's General Board had wrestled with the proposed design changes, first they considered 12 torpedo tubes with one fewer 5-inch (127 mm)/38 caliber gun, and then proposed to retain all five guns with the twelve torpedo tubes, but configure those guns only for surface targets, not air targets. Which incorporated the most up-to-date machinery available. The Mahan-class destroyers emerged as improved versions of the Farragut class, Collectively, the ships received 111 battle stars for their World War II service. The remainder were decommissioned, sold, or scrapped after the war none remain today. Six ships were lost in combat and two were expended in the postwar Operation Crossroads nuclear tests. Their participation in major and secondary campaigns included the bombardment of beachheads, amphibious landings, task force screening, convoy and patrol duty, and anti-aircraft and submarine warfare. The class introduced a new steam propulsion system that combined increases in pressure and temperature with a new type of lightweight steam turbine, which proved simpler and more efficient than the Mahans' predecessors-so much so that it was used on many subsequent wartime US destroyers.Īll 18 ships saw action in World War II, entirely in the Pacific Theater, which included the Guadalcanal Campaign, and the battles of the Santa Cruz Islands, Leyte Gulf, and Iwo Jima. ![]() The Standard displacement increased from 1,365 tons to 1,500 tons. The Mahans featured improvements over previous destroyers, with 12 torpedo tubes, superimposed gun shelters, and generators for emergency use. Mahan was the lead ship, named for Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, an influential historian and theorist on sea power. The last two of the 18, Dunlap and Fanning (this pair laid down in 1935), are sometimes considered a separate ship class. The Mahan-class destroyers of the United States Navy were a series of 18 destroyers of which the first 16 were laid down in 1934. ![]() Two on a platform just forward and below the bridge, and two on a deck house just forward of 5" mount No. One tube mount was on the centerline between the stacks, and the other two were port and starboard just behind the aft stack. Mounts 51 and 52 were partially enclosed, and mounts 53, 54, and 55 were open.
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