Эсминцы типа «Гридли»

Destroyer class of the US Navy

The Gridley class destroyers, named for Charles Vernon Gridley, were a class of four 1500 ton destroyers in the United States Navy. They were part of a series of USN destroyers limited to 1,500 tons standard displacement by the London Naval Treaty and built in the 1930s. The first two ships were laid down on 3 June 1935 and commissioned in 1937. The second two were laid down in March 1936 and commissioned in 1938. Based on the preceding Mahan class destroyers with somewhat different machinery, they had the same hull but had only a single stack and mounted sixteen 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, an increase of four. To compensate for the increased torpedo armament weight, the gun armament was slightly reduced from five 5"/38 caliber guns (127 mm) to four. Maury made the highest trial speed ever recorded for a United States Navy destroyer, 42.8 knots. All four ships served extensively in World War II, notably in the Solomon Islands and the Battle of the Philippine Sea, with Maury receiving a Presidential Unit Citation.

The four Gridleys were part of a series of three classes with similar characteristics laid down 1935 1937. The other two were the Bagley class (8 ships) and the Benham class (10 ships). All three featured four 5 inch (127 mm) guns and sixteen 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes in four quadruple mounts as built, the largest number of torpedo tubes on any US destroyers.

The Gridleys' boilers were a significant upgrade from the Mahan class, with steam pressure increased from to , superheated in both cases to The increased steam pressure contributed to fuel economy. The boilers were Yarrow type boilers built by Bethlehem Steel. However, the turbines were generally similar to the Farragut class, and thus were less efficient than those in the Mahan class. They were Parsons type reaction turbines built by Bethlehem Steel, with single reduction gearing and no cruising turbines. The result was a reduced range of compared to for the Mahans.