1942 USS BEALE. A member of the Fletcher class of destroyers, designed before the Second World War broke out and launched from mid-1942 to early 1944.
THE FLETCHER CLASS
This was the largest class of destroyers constructed for the US Navy during the Second World War, and the first to break entirely with the design practice which had evolved during the 1930s. Marginally longer and over ten per cent broader in the beam, their design displacement, at 2100 tons, was 25 per cent up on that of the earlier Bensons. This permitted them to be much more heavily armed right from the start, and to be easier to modify subsequently. USS Beale (DD 471) was constructed by Bethlehem, Staten Island. Laid down in 1940, she was launched on 24 August 1942, and entered ser vice at the end of the year. She was stricken in October 1968, and expended as a target the following year.
THE BEALES ARMAMENT
Not surprisingly, in a class which numbered no less than 179 ships, there was considerable variation in their eventual weapons fit. Originally Beale had five 5in (127mm) guns in single turrets (A, B, Q, X and Y) and four 1.1 in and four 20mm light AA guns, together with ten 21 in (533mm) torpedo tubes in two quintuple mountings and six depth charge protectors. However, the light AA armament was altered during the war to ten 40mm Bofors and eight 2 Oerlikons. In 1947-48 she was extensively modified, with new sonar and radar. She lost three 5in (127 mm) guns and gained four paired 3m ( AA guns together with a Weapon Able anti-submarine rocket launcher and two Hedgehog AS mortars. Her heavy torpedo tubes were replaced by two triple sets for launching 12.75in (324mm) AS torpedoes.
TECHNICAL DATA
Type: Anti-submarine destroyer
Machinery: 2-shaft General Electric turbines delivering a total of 60,000shp
Dimensions (overall): Length, 114.7m (376.Sft); beam, 12.1 m (39.5ft)
Displacement: 2325t standard; 2925t deep load
Draught: 4.2m (13.75ft) deep load
Complement: 290
Speed: 38 knots (70km/h)
