1939 USS BENSON.
USS Benson was the lead ship of a very large class of destroyers officially classified at 1620 tons displacement, the last to be designed pre-Second World War, and launched between late 1939 and early 1943.
THE BENSON/CLEAVES CLASS
The Benson (DD 421) was the first ship launched of a class which bears her name linked with that of the Gleaves (DD 423), launched three weeks later at Bath Ironworks and officially ten tons heavier (in fact, none of the ships which followed either pattern came within 200 tons of their design displacement, and at deep load displaced close to 2500 tons). Together with only seven of her sister-ships (out of a total of 97 in the combined class) she was built by Bethlehem at Quincy, Massachusetts; laid down in May 1938 she was launched on 15 November 1939 and commissioned the following July. She was transferred to Taiwan in 1954, and finally stricken in 1975.
ANTI-AIRCRAFT DESTROYERS
The Benson/Gleaves-class ships were built to protect the fleet assets from attack by aircraft, and were armed accordingly (though they also mounted torpedo tubes and depth charge launchers). On completion, Benson herself carried five 5in (127mm) DP guns in single mounts supplemented by machine guns and ten torpedo tubes, but later ships carried four 5in (127mm) guns and five torpedo tubes, the weight and space thus freed being allocated to two twin 40mm Bofors and seven single 20mm Oerlikons. Early ships were modified to this standard too, and some later lost their torpedo tubes altogether and gained four more Oerlikon cannon.
TECHNICAL DATA
Type: Destroyer
Machinery: 2-shaft Westinghouse turbines developing a total of 50,000shp
Dimensions (overall): Length, 106.2m (348.3ft); beam, 11m (36ft)
Displacement: 1840t standard; 2395t deep load
Draught: 4m (13ft) at deep load
