Destroyer tender

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The destroyer tender Klondike with a flotilla of Allen M. Sumner-class destroyers, Subic Bay, Philippines, November 1963

A destroyer tender or destroyer depot ship is a type of depot ship: an auxiliary ship designed to provide maintenance support to a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships. The use of this class has faded from its peak in the first half of the 20th century as the roles and weaponry of small combatants have evolved (in conjunction with technological advances in propulsion reliability and efficiency).

Background

As the

industrial revolution progressed, steam-powered steel ships replaced sail-powered wooden ships; but naval artillery remained the preferred weapon. The first large warship to be sunk by a torpedo was the Chilean ironclad Blanco Encalada in 1891. As major naval powers realized the vulnerability of their expensive battleships to inexpensive torpedo boats, they started building defensive flotillas of torpedo boat destroyers or destroyers for short.[1]

The earliest torpedo boat destroyers were small, to maximize maneuverability, and powered by large steam engines, to maximize speed to intercept enemy torpedo boats before they could get close to the battleships.

colliers accompanying the battle fleet. The destroyer tenders also carried cooks, administrative and medical personnel, and senior ratings qualified to repair the destroyer machinery. Although individual destroyers were too small for these specialized personnel, the skills of those aboard the tender were available to the whole destroyer flotilla. The tender also carried a supply of spare parts for destroyer machinery.[2]

Evolution

When the

drydock.[4]

Destroyer displacement had increased to 1,000 tons by

optical rangefinders, and fire-control system computers. These tenders operated stills and electric generators to supply fresh water and electrical power to destroyers moored alongside for boiler repair.[6]

Each increment of size enabled destroyers to carry more of the personnel and equipment previously found on the tender. Destroyers reached the size of cruisers during the Cold War, and with that size acquired a cruiser's capability for independent action. Surviving tenders became functionally indistinguishable from repair ships.[7]

Some destroyer tenders were designed and built to attend a flotilla of destroyers, while others were converted from ships built for other purposes. Tabled below is a comparison of ships designed as destroyer tenders:

Name Date Number Nation Displacement Speed Crew
USS Melville[8] 1915 1 US 5,250 tons 15 knots 600
HMS Greenwich[9] 1915 1 UK 8,100 tons 11 knots 224
Altair class 1918 3 US 6.250 tons 10.5 knots 481
Dobbin class[8]
 1921 2 US 8,325 tons 16 knots 600
Dixie class[8] 1939 5 US 9,450 tons 19 knots 1,262
Hamul class 1940 2 US 8,560 tons 17 knots 857
Hecla class[10] 1940 2 UK 10,850 tons 17 knots 818
Klondike class[8] 1944 4 US 8,560 tons 18 knots 860
Shenandoah class 1944 6 US 11,755 tons 18 knots 1,035
Samuel Gompers class[11] 1966 2 US 21,000 tons 18 knots 1,803
Yellowstone class[7] 1979 4 US 20,224 tons 18 knots 1,595

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Potter & Nimitz, p.335
  2. ^ a b Potter & Nimitz p.640
  3. ^ Lenton & Colledge, p.333
  4. ^ Fahey, p.39
  5. ^ Silverstone, pp.103&135
  6. ^ "USS Dixie's 40th Anniversary Cruise Book, page 24". Unofficial US Navy Site. USS Dixie. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  7. ^ a b Cooney, pp.6&13
  8. ^ a b c d Silverstone, pp.283&285
  9. ^ Lenton & Colledge, p.336
  10. ^ Lenton & Colledge, p.338
  11. ^ Blackman, p.524

Sources

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