Forrest Sherman-class (DD-931)

The Forrest Sherman class was the first post-war destroyer design commissioned by the United States Navy. Built between 1953 and 1959, the class succeeded the Mitscher class and preceded the Farragut class. The design also served as the basis for the Charles F. Adams-class guided-missile destroyers. Eighteen vessels were completed by four shipbuilders: Bath Iron Works, Bethlehem Fore River, Ingalls Shipbuilding, and Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company.

The original design, designated project SCB 85, featured Mark 42 5-inch guns, Mark 33 3-inch guns, Hedgehogs, and torpedo tubes. Later ships built under SCB 85A incorporated automatic boiler combustion control systems, a modified hurricane bow, and reversed fire control directors. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Navy modified the entire class by removing the 3-inch guns and Hedgehogs. The original fixed torpedo tubes were replaced with Mark 32 triple mounts.

Several vessels underwent specialized modernizations. Four ships—John Paul Jones, Parsons, Decatur, and Somers—were converted to guided-missile destroyers under project SCB 240, receiving Tartar missile launchers. Eight other vessels, known as the Barry sub-class, received anti-submarine warfare modernizations under SCB 251. These ships were equipped with a variable-depth sonar and an eight-cell ASROC launcher, which replaced the second 5-inch gun mount. USS Hull served as a test platform for the 8-inch/55-caliber Mark 71 light-weight gun from 1975 to 1978.

The class remained in commission from 1955 until 1988. Of the 18 completed ships, nine were sunk during fleet training exercises and seven were sold for scrapping. Two vessels were preserved as museum ships: USS Edson and USS Turner Joy.