Sumner Class

    Originally proposed as an improvement to the 2,100-ton FLETCHER-class destroyers in May of 1942, the ALLEN M. SUMNER class bore little resemblance to the FLETCHER whose hull and machinery the SUMNER was built around.

    The SUMNER class hull was almost identical to the FLETCHER except for a 1' wider beam and having twin rudders, yet the topside of the vessels differed considerably. Gone were the 5 qty single MK 30 5-inch / 38 cal. gun mounts and in their place were three qty, twin 5-inch/38 cal. gun mounts. The SUMNER had a larger bridge area (which allowed it to be the first U.S. Navy destroyer designed with a Combat Information Center (CIC)), heavier anti-aircraft battery consisting of two-quad and two-twin 40 mm and ten-20 mm single gun mounts and although the machinery was identical to the FLETCHER, all the new weaponry required added electrical power and thus the FLETCHER type service generators had to be increased on the SUMNER from 250 KW to 400 KW as well as increasing emergency power by adding a second 100 KW generator. With the larger crew came greater demands for a second evaporator. All this added weight to the basic FLETCHER hull came with a cost of being 150 tons heavier than the FLETCHER class and also being 3 knots slower. 

    When the first SUMNER class destroyers began their sea trials with their modern systems over the older FLETCHER class vessels it became apparent that with the added weight and slower speed, the SUMNER class also did not meet the Navy specifications for operational range. The Navy's Bureau of Ships’ designers immediately sought a fix, but that fix involved the "addition" of a fourteen-foot section to the mid-ship (between the fore and aft stacks) to accommodate increased bunker oil storage, but just as the SUMNER class was an "improvement" over the FLETCHER class, did evolve the "improvement" of the SUMNER class, called the GEARING class. The new GEARING class destroyer was put into production at once, but not until 70 SUMNERs had either been launched or were ready to be launched. Those SUMNER CLASS vessels' hulls under construction at the time of the change simply had the added frame members inserted and were reclassified as GEARINGS.

  HOW FRAM EVOLVED For the SUMNER class: By FY 1960, there remained only 53 Sumner class destroyers: Four SUMNERs* were sunk and one severely damaged during WWII with 12 SUMNERs being fitted out for mine laying in 1944 (2 of which were scrapped by 1950) and thus changing their classification to DM. The SEAMAN which was never completed, lost her bow to fix the COLLETT (DD-730) which was damaged in a collision with AMMEN (DD- 557) in Aug. 1960; killing 11 of AMMEN's crew.

    With these 53 remaining SUMNER class destroyers still in  service with the U.S. Navy, the decision of which to FRAM and which to not needed to be made. The Navy began its decision process by converting the Sumner destroyer, USS John W. Thomason (DD 760) into a DASH ship in March 1959 by making it the prototype FRAM ship for the Sumner Class. It began this process by the adding of the after-deck landing area, DASH Hangar, Variable Depth Sonar and two qty, triple-torpedo tube launchers (many improvements in living and working spaces as well). To make room and weight allowance for this new equipment, the six qty, 3 inch guns and 5 qty, 21 inch torpedo tubes were removed.  After conversion, the John W. Thomason was used for extensive trials which upon the conclusion of she became the new flagship of Destroyer division 72 in March 1961. However, it was determined that IF  John W. Thomason was going to be successful as a hunter-killer destroyer, its' sonar had to be updated in order for it to detect the submarines, its DASH weapon system allowed it to destroy (DASH had 22.5 mile ASW kill range). Subsequently, John W. Thomason put in to Long Beach in September 1961 for an extensive removal of the SQS-4 sonar system and the installation of a new SQS-23 sonar system. This installation continued until completed in July 1962 when she returned to the 1st fleet and subsequently the far east.

    FRAM: These were the lessons learned from the first FRAM/DASH SUMNER destroyer and with a cost per ship of $ 4,500,000, the Navy decided that not all remaining SUMNER ships would receive FRAM. Of the remaining 53 Sumners' only 33 would received the FRAM MK II upgrade; which was more of a modernization than reconstruction which the GEARINGS received. This modernization would take six to seven months for a shipyard to complete and therefore extend these ships lives by approximately 5 years. 

Total cost to FRAM this class: $ 148,500,000.

    Herein is the listing of ALL SUMNER Class destroyers existing as of 1966; those ships that received FRAM are noted as such.

 ALLEN M. SUMNER CLASS DESTROYERS

Name of Ship

Hull No.

Received
FRAM

Builder

Launched

Stricken Date
ALFRED A. CUNNINGHAM
752
YES
Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island, NY
03 Aug. 1944
01 Feb. 1974
ALLEN M. SUMNER
692
YES
Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co. Kearny, NJ 
15 Dec. 1943
15 Aug. 1973
AULT
698
YES
Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co. Kearny, NJ 
26 Mar. 1944
01 Sept. 1973
BARTON
722
No
Bath Iron Works, Bath ME
10 Oct. 1943
01 Oct. 1968
BEATTY
756
No
Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island, New York
30 Nov. 1944
14 July 1972
BLUE
744
YES
Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island, New York
28 Nov. 1943
01 Feb. 1974
BORIE
704
YES
Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co. Kearny, NJ 
04 July 1944
01 July 1972
BRISTOL
857
No
Bethlehem Steel, San Pedro
29 Oct. 1944
21 Nov. 1969
BRUSH
745
No
Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island, New York
28 Dec. 1943
27 Oct. 1969
BUCK
761
YES
Bethlehem Steel, San Francisco
11 Mar. 1945
15 July 1973
CHARLES S. SPERRY
697
YES
Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co. Kearny, NJ 
13 Mar. 1944
15 Dec. 1973
COLLETT
730
YES
Bath Iron Works, Bath ME
05 Mar. 1944
01 Feb. 1974
COMPTON
705
No
Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co. Kearny, NJ 
17 Sep. 1944
27 Sept. 1972
DeHAVEN
727
YES
Bath Iron Works, Bath ME
09 Jan. 1944
03 Dec. 1973
DOUGLAS H. FOX
779
YES
Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle
30 Sep. 1944
15 Dec. 1973
ENGLISH
696
No
Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co. Kearny, NJ 
27 Feb. 1944
15 May 1970
FRANK E. EVANS
754
YES
Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island, New York
03 Oct. 1944
01 July 1969
GAINARD
706
No
Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co. Kearny, NJ 
17 Sep. 1944
26 Feb. 1971
HANK
702
No
Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co. Kearny, NJ 
21 May 1944
01 July 1972
HARLAN R. DICKSON
708
No
Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co. Kearny, NJ 
17 Dec. 1944
01 July 1972
HARRY E. HUBBARD
748
No
Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island, New York
24 Mar. 1944
17 Oct. 1969
HAYNSWORTH
700
No
Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co. Kearny, NJ 
15 Apr. 1944
30 Jan. 1970
HENLEY
762
No
Bethlehem Steel, San Francisco
08 Apr. 1945
01 July 1973
HUGH PURVIS
709
YES
Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co. Kearny, NJ 
17 De. 1944
01 Feb. 1973
HYMAN
732
No
Bath Iron Works, Bath ME
08 Apr.1944
16 Nov. 1969
INGRAHAM
694
YES
Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co. Kearny, NJ 
16 Jan. 1944
16 July 1971
JAMES C. OWENS
776
YES
Bethlehem Steel, San Pedro
01 Oct. 1944
15 July 1973
JOHN A. BOLE
755
YES
Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island, New York
01 Nov. 1944
01 Feb. 1974
JOHN R. PIERCE
753
No
Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island, New York
01 Sep. 1944
01 July 1973
JOHN W. THOMASON
760
YES
Bethlehem Steel, San Francisco
30 Sep. 1944
01 Feb. 1974
JOHN W. WEEKS
701
No
Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co. Kearny, NJ 
21 May 1944
12 Aug. 1970
LAFFEY
724
YES
Bath Iron Works, Bath ME
21 Nov. 1943
01 Mar. 1975
LOFBERG
759
YES
Bethlehem Steel, San Francisco
12 Aug. 1944
01 Feb. 1973
LOWRY
770
YES
Bethlehem Steel, San Pedro
06 Feb. 1944
31 Oct. 1973
LYMAN K. SWENSON
729
YES
Bath Iron Works, Bath ME
12 Feb. 1944
01 Feb. 1974
MADDOX
731
No
Bath Iron Works, Bath ME
19 Mar. 1944
02 July 1972
MANSFIELD
728
YES
Bath Iron Works, Bath ME
29 Jan. 1944
01 Feb. 1974
MASSEY
778
YES
Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle
19 Aug. 1944
17 Sep. 1973
MOALE
693
YES
Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co. Kearny, NJ 
16 Jan. 1944
02 July 1973
O'BRIEN
725
YES
Bath Iron Works, Bath ME
08 Dec. 1943
18 Feb. 1972
PURDY
734
No
Bath Iron Works, Bath ME
07 May 1944
01 July 1973
PUTNAM
757
YES
Bethlehem Steel, San Francisco
26 Mar. 1944
06 Aug. 1973
ROBERT K. HUNTINGTON
781
YES
Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle
05 Dec. 1944
31 Oct. 1973
SOLEY
707
No
Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co. Kearny, NJ 
08 Sep. 1944
13 Feb. 1970
STORMES
780
YES
Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle
04 Nov. 1944
16 Feb. 1972
STRONG
758
YES
Bethlehem Steel, San Francisco
23 Apr. 1944
31 Oct. 1973
SAMUEL N. MOORE
747
No
Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island, New York
23 Feb. 1944
24 Oct. 1969
TAUSSIG
746
YES
Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island, New York
25 Jan. 1944
01 Feb. 1974
WALDRON
699
YES
Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co. Kearny, NJ 
26 Mar. 1944
31 Oct. 1973
WALKE
723
YES
Bath Iron Works, Bath ME
27 Oct. 1943
01 Feb. 1974
WALLACE L. LIND
703
YES
Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co. Kearny, NJ 
14 June 1944
04 Dec. 1973
WILLARD KEITH
775
No
Bethlehem Steel, San Pedro
29 Aug. 1944
01 July 1972
ZELLARS
777
YES
Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle
19 July 1944
19 Mar. 1971

*Please note, there are Four Sumner class destroyers not mentioned in the above table as they were lost in battle during World War II. 
To honor them, we mention them here:

bullet

USS COOPER (DD-695); built by the Federal Ship Building & D.D. Co., Kearny, NJ she was laid down on August 30, 1943, launched February 9 1944 and commissioned on March 27 1944. She was subsequently lost when she was sunk by the Japanese destroyer, Take, in Ormoc Bay, Leyte, Philippines on December 3, 1944. Lost with her, were 191 of her crew.

bullet

USS DREXLER (DD-741); built by the Bath Iron Works, Bath ME., she was laid down on April 24 1944, launched on September 3, 1944 and commissioned on November 14, 1944. She was subsequently lost when a Japanese Kamikaze crashed into her off Okinawa on May 28, 1945. Lost with her, were 164 of her crew.

bullet

USS MANNERT L. ABELE (DD-733); built by the Bath Iron Works, Bath ME., she was laid down on December 9, 1943, launched on April 23, 1944 and commissioned on July 4, 1944. She was subsequently lost when a Japanese Kamikaze crashed into her off Okinawa on April 12, 1945. Lost with her, were 73 of her crew.

bullet

USS MEREDITH (DD-726); built by the Bath Iron Works, Bath ME., she was laid down on July 26, 1943, launched on December 21, 1943 and commissioned on March 14, 1944. She was severely damaged when MEREDITH struck a mine while operating off UTAH Beach, Normandy France on June 8, 1944. Despite the valiant efforts of her crew, MEREDITH was subsequently lost after being attacked the following day by German aircraft, off UTAH Beach.  Lost with her, were 35 of her crew.

bullet

USS HUGH W. HADLEY (DD-774); built by the Bethlehem Steel, San Pedro, Ca, she was laid down on February 6 1944, launched on July 16 1944 and commissioned on November 25, 1944. She was severely damaged on May 11, 1945 while operating off Okinawa when she came under attack by some 10 Japanese suicide kamikaze aircraft. After two direct crashes along with a baka bomb hit, all but 50 of the remaining crew were ordered over the side in life rafts. She suffered 28 dead and 67 injured casualties that day. Her valiant crew managed to keep her afloat so she could be towed eventually back to Hunter's Point, California where she was deemed irreparable. She was decommissioned 15 December 1945, stricken 8 January, 1946 and subsequently scrapped. HUGH W. HADLEY received the Presidential Unit Citation for her performance in the action off Okinawa 11 May 1945.

 

ALLEN M. SUMNER CLASS DESTROYER POST-FRAM SPECIFICATIONS
Displacement:
2,200 tons standard (3,315 tons full load)
Dimensions:
376' 6" x 40 10" beam x 15' 8" maximum draft 
Guns:
3 qty, TWIN 5 inch/38 caliber MK 12 mod 1 guns installed on MK 38 gun mount (kept all three original mounts)
Weapons:
2 qty, DASH Helicopters, 6 homing torpedo tubes (2 MK 32 Triple Torpedo mounts). TWO Mark-10, 7.2" HEDGEHOG Projector ( "ahead-thrown-missiles" launches 24 - 7.2 inch missiles with contact fuses) located on deckhouse abreast Bridge front.
Machinery:
2 Westinghouse turbines coupled to 2 DeLaval locked-train double reduction gears. 2 shafts, 350 RPM, SHP: 60,000 = 36.5 knots standard
Boilers:
FOUR Babcock & Wilcox working pressure 565 PSI at 850 degree F
Oil Fuel:
3,293 barrels NSFO and 167 barrels of Diesel Oil
Radius:
At 2,200 tons standard   maximum speed is 36.5 knots with endurance of 6,500 miles at 15 knots
    At 3,315 tons full load    maximum speed is 32.1 knots with endurance of 3,600 miles at 15 knots
Complement:
Allowance: 274 (14 officers, 260 enlisted men) Accommodations: 322 (22 Officers and 300 enlisted men)

The 20 SUMNER destroyers NOT receiving FRAM did receive some modifications:

bullet
All but one depth charge rack release track was removed (for 600 pound-charges); in their place two side-launching torpedo racks were installed. 
bullet
All six single K-guns ( Depth Charge Projector Mark 6 Mod 1) were removed (a cartridge fired device that propelled a depth charge approx. 100 feet)  (These were for 300 pound-charges)
bullet
Two-quad and two-twin 40 mm gun mounts and ten-20 mm single gun mounts replaced with 2 twins and two single 50 caliber mounts.

Below are some special DASH-equipment-On-Ship pictures taken during FRAM of a ALLEN M. SUMNER class Destroyer, the USS INGRAHAM.




U.S.S. INGRAHAM (DD-694)

    An ALLEN M. SUMNER class destroyer, she displaced 3,300 tons when full, was 376 feet 6 inches long, had 60,000 SHP, General Electric Geared Turbines powering 2 screws to a maximum speed of 32 knots.

    She was laid down by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Kearny, NJ on August 4, 1943, launched January 16 1944,  commissioned on March 10 1944 and served until being decommissioned (and stricken) on July 16, 1971. On that day she was sold to the country of Greece, renamed Miaoulis and eventually stricken by Greece in 1992. As of January 1998, she was laid up in Souda Bay, Crete.

 

    This is the view of the INGRAHAM's Combat Information Center or CIC for the DASH system. At top with the dial, is the Transmitter Control (C-3313/SRW-4C) and at lower right, with all the switches, is the Transmitter Control (C-2804 / SRW-4). The C-3313 control allowed the CIC Pilot/Drone controller to fly the aircraft (after transfer was made from the deck control station) to the distant sonar contact using the ships radar to track the aircraft. The C-2804 control allowed the CIC to select which antenna to use (fore or aft), which transmitter to use and to switch between deck or CIC control of the QH-50C Drone.    In the INGRAHAM's transmitter room, the aft end shows the two Target Control System Test Sets: On the left is the AN/SRM-3 and on the right is the AN/SRM-5. The SRM-3 Test set allowed the ship's DASH personnel to test performance of the target control system. The SRM-5 allowed the ship's DASH personnel to simulate signals used to control the QH-50C Drone (DASH) and diagnose any faults within the system before flying the aircraft. Each DASH ship received these test sets. An additional test set, a AN/PSM-4 Multimeter was also used to perform continuity tests.


 

The USS ALLEN M. SUMNER (DD-692) in her post FRAM outfit showing the aft Hangar and landing deck for her newly installed DASH system. In keeping with Naval tradition, as her hull number was the lowest of the class built, the class was named after her and thus the SUMNER class was created.

   Commissioned on January 26, 1944, she served for 29 years until being decommissioned on August 15, 1973. She was subsequently stricken from the naval register on August 15, 1973, sold on November 13, 1974 and broken up for scrap.

 

Up Fletcher Class Sumner Class Gearing Class Frank Knox Class Carpenter Class Basilone Class Dealey Class DE Bronstein Class Mitscher Class Destroyer Tenders JMSDF Destroyers

 

 


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