Cassin-class destroyer

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USS Cassin in Coast Guard service
Class overview
NameCassin class
BuildersVarious
Operators
Preceded byPaulding class
Succeeded byAylwin class
Built1912–1915
In commission1913–33
Completed4
Retired4
General characteristics
TypeDestroyer
Displacement
  • 1,020 tons (normal)
  • 1,139 tons (full load)
Length305 ft 3 in (93.04 m)
Beam30 ft 4 in (9.25 m)
Draft9 ft 3 in (2.82 m)
Installed power
Propulsion2 × screws
Speed29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph) (design)
Capacity312 tons oil (fuel)
Complement5 officers, 93 enlisted
Armament
  • 4 ×
    4 in (102 mm)/50 caliber
    guns
  • 4 × twin
    18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes

Four

Model T Ford.[1]

They were the first to carry the new

4-inch (102 mm)/50 caliber guns. The number of torpedo tubes was increased from the six carried by the Paulding class to eight. The additional armament significantly increased their tonnage to over 1,000 tons and decreased their speed to less than 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph), despite an increase from 12,000 shaft horsepower (8,900 kW) to 16,000 shp (12,000 kW).[2]

The Aylwin class was built concurrently, and those four ships are often considered to be Cassins. Both classes were ordered in fiscal year 1912.[2][3][4]

The class performed convoy escort missions in the

Atlantic in World War I. Hulls 43–45 served in the United States Coast Guard as part of the Rum Patrol in 1924–31. All were scrapped 1934–35 to comply with the London Naval Treaty.[3]

Design

The increase in normal displacement to over 1,000 tons was due to the desire to combine a heavy armament with a substantial cruising range. The US Navy at the time had only three modern

triple expansion engine that could be clutched to one shaft for cruising; the other pair of ships had a similar arrangement on both shafts.[4]

"Thousand tonner" development

The "thousand tonner" type included 26 destroyers in five classes: four Cassins, four Aylwins, six

anti-aircraft armament: two 1-pounder (37 mm) autocannons were specified for the Tuckers but not fitted until the Sampsons.[3]

In engineering, cruising turbines were re-introduced with the Tucker and Sampson classes. USS Wadsworth had prototype fully geared turbines without cruising turbines; this arrangement was later adopted for the Clemson-class "flush deckers"; other flush deckers had geared turbines with varying cruising arrangements.[3]

Armament

The gun armament of four

4-inch (102 mm)/50 caliber Mark 9 guns was a significant increase from the five 3-inch (76 mm) guns of the Paulding class, and remained the standard US destroyer gun armament through the "flush deck" Clemson-class destroyers commissioned through 1921. It reflected the increasing size of foreign destroyers that the Cassins might have to fight. The torpedo armament of eight 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes was an increase of two tubes over the Pauldings. A factor in the size of the torpedo armament was the General Board's decision to use broadside rather than centerline torpedo tubes.[4] This was due to the desire to have some torpedoes remaining after firing a broadside, and problems experienced with centerline mounts on previous classes with torpedoes striking the gunwales of the firing ship.[4]

The class was probably equipped with one or two

anti-submarine convoy escort missions in World War I.[5]

Engineering

Most references list the propulsion plant of Cassin and Cummings as standard for the class.

Thornycroft boilers and Duncan had Yarrow boilers. Both of these had Curtis steam turbines and triple-expansion cruising engines on both shafts.[6]

Downes made 29.14 knots (53.97 km/h; 33.53 mph) on trials at 14,254 

kW). Normal fuel oil capacity was 312 tons.[4]

Ships in class

Ships of the Cassin destroyer class[2]
Name Hull no. Shipyard Laid down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Fate
Cassin DD-43 Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine 1 May 1912 20 May 1913 9 August 1913 29 March 1922 USCG 1924–33, scrapped 1934
Cummings DD-44 Bath Iron Works 21 May 1912 6 August 1913 19 September 1913 23 June 1922 USCG 1924–32, scrapped 1934
Downes DD-45
New York Shipbuilding, Camden, New Jersey
 27 June 1912 8 November 1913 11 February 1915 6 June 1922 USCG 1924–31, scrapped 1934
Duncan DD-46
Fore River Shipbuilding, Quincy, Massachusetts
 17 June 1912 5 April 1913 30 August 1913 1 August 1922 Scrapped 1935

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cassin class destroyers.

References

  1. ^ a b "US Navy 1000-ton destroyers". Destroyer History Foundation. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Bauer and Roberts, p. 170
  3. ^ a b c d e Gardiner and Gray, pp. 122–125
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Friedman, pp. 24–34, 458
  5. ^ Friedman, p. 68
  6. ^ a b "Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, 1912". US Navy Department. 1913. pp. 60–71. Retrieved 5 March 2016.

Bibliography
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