Little noticed in the news in June 1949 was the return to Great Britain by the Russian Navy of two former U. S. Navy four-stack destroyers, HMS Chelsea (ex U.S.S. Crowninshield) and HMS Richmond (ex-U.S.S. Fairfax), which were included in the fifty transferred to Britain in the “bases-for-destroyers” deal of 1940 and among the nine1 which Britain subsequently lend-leased to Russia in 1944. With the return (and presumable scrapping) of these two stragglers, there comes to a close the long and interesting story of this large class of 279 ships (DD’s 69-347) so well known to the old-timers in the service as the “four-stackers,” and a group which, in their old age, acquitted themselves so well in World War II.
Most of the four-stackers were completed too late to take an active part in the first World War, and they were almost too old to take part in the second war twenty-three years later. By 1941, due to peacetime attrition, their number had dwindled to 169 ships, fifty of which were already seeing war service in the British Navy. Although they had then become obsolete by accepted Naval standards, these elderly ships were nevertheless not relegated to secondary or minor tasks. Operating in the forward areas of both oceans and taking an active part in practically all the major campaigns of the war, they rolled up an enviable record of achievement as escort and anti-submarine vessels as well as in their converted roles as troop transports (APD’s), seaplane tenders (AVD’s) minelayers (DM’s) and high speed minesweepers (DMS’s).
Four-stackers figured in the news at the very outset of the two-ocean war. It was the Ward, patrolling off Oahu at dawn on 7 December, that fired the opening shot of the Pacific War when she attacked and sank a Japanese midget submarine attempting to enter Pearl Harbor before the Japanese bombers arrived. Several months earlier in the Atlantic, the Greer had been unsuccessfully attacked with torpedoes by a German submarine, and, on 30 October 1941, the Reuben James was torpedoed and sunk off Iceland.
The scope of their activity and the caliber of their achievement during World War II is eloquently attested by the fact that thirty- one of their number were lost in action with the enemy (22 U. S. Navy, 8 British and 1 Russian).2 They were credited with 11 German and 3 Japanese submarine “kills.” They served under five national flags in the course of the War; lend-lease destroyers involved in the 1940 transfer served in the Canadian, Norwegian3 and Russian Navies as well as under the white ensign of Great Britain. Through an unfortunate twist of fate, one, the Stewart, served briefly under Japanese colors when, several years later, the enemy salvaged her wreckage at Soerabaya, Java. The 119 four-stackers which were a part of the U.S. Navy in 1941 earned 33 unit commendations, of which 16 were Presidential Unit Citations and 17 Navy Unit Commendations.4
The four-stack destroyer had much in common with her contemporary, the Model T Ford. Both were simple and extremely rugged, were mass-produced at relatively low cost, and, although lacking in the size and luxuries of the larger models, could keep up with most and could go almost anywhere. Although slightly larger and more powerfully armed, they were a logical expansion of their earlier sisters, the raised-forecastle “thousand tonners” already in service in 1916. The first five of the class (DD’s 69-73) were classed as experimental, the Gwin, Stockton and Conner having only three stacks instead of the four that were to give the class its trademark. Omitting DD’s 200-205, which were cancelled, a total of 268 ships formed the remainder of the class, and these were subdivided into the “light boats” (DD’s 74-186) and the “heavy boats” (DD’s 187-347). Although both were identical to outward appearances, the later members displaced an additional 100 tons due to the incorporation of additional fuel tanks in their firerooms. This modification was the result of the war experiences of the “light boats” which were seeing war service at Queenstown and Brest, where the short operating radius of these ships had already proved a disadvantage.
Despite their obsolescence by today’s standards, the four-stacker was a large and heavily armed destroyer by the standards of her day. Carrying a principal armament of 4-4" guns and 12 torpedoes, and possessing a top speed of 35 knots, they compared favorably with their contemporaries in any foreign Navy. The tactics of the period in which they were designed dictated their primary employment as torpedo-carrying vessels in the battle-line concept of naval warfare, and with this in view everything had been subordinated to the mounting of a powerful torpedo battery. Their anti-aircraft protection was almost nil, and anti-submarine weapons, in the form of depth charges, were added as an afterthought in 1917 to combat the German U-boat menace. Although primarily torpedo vessels, as events turned out only those four-stackers serving with the Asiatic Fleet in the gallant but hopeless defense of the East Indies ever fired their torpedoes in surface action with the enemy. The remainder made their fame in their converted roles as escort ships, transports and minecraft.
Only 33 four-stackers were completed before Armistice Day 1918, and only a few of that number saw active service in World War I. None were lost or damaged due to enemy action, although Manley (DD 74) lost her stern in an accidental depth charge explosion.
By 1921, when all 273 ships of the class had been completed, the need for so large a number of destroyers had passed, and the postwar budget precluded manning and operating but a fraction of that number. Accordingly, many were decommissioned without even shaking down or steaming more than a few hundred miles, and some of these lay idle at the San Diego Destroyer Base or in the back channel of Philadelphia until they were called back to service in 1939 to meet the threat of World War II. Others were rotated in active service in the 20’s and 30’s, or replaced their sisterships which had been disposed of in accordance with the London Treaty. Between the wars a total of 104 of the class were stricken from the Navy register; 94 being scrapped in compliance with the London Naval Treaty of 1930, and 105 becoming operational losses. A total of 169 of these ships thus remained on the Navy Register after 1930, and about 67 of these were in “moth balls.” The remainder, about 100 in all, saw active service throughout the ’thirties, although their number was gradually reduced, commencing in 1936, as replacement divisions and squadrons of large and modern destroyers joined the fleet.
By 1939 only three organized squadrons of four-stackers remained active plus a number of individual ships performing auxiliary functions. Practically the entire group of 169 ships had reached the age of twenty years and therefore “over-age” for purposes of replacement. In addition to their age and the necessity for frequent and costly repairs to hull and machinery to keep them going, the four-stacker was obsolete for purposes of fleet operations when compared with the new Farragut, Porter, Mahan and Craven classes which were already serving with the fleet, and with the McCall and Sims classes which were just coming into service. Not only was the four-stacker lacking in the powerful surface and anti-aircraft armament and modern anti-submarine devices of her new sisters, but her low freeboard and smaller size made it difficult for her to keep up with the larger units in heavy weather. Thus the entire class, too young to have taken much of an active part in World War I, had reached old age before World War II, having grown old in the years between the two wars performing the routine duties of a peacetime Navy. True, they made a valuable contribution to the training of two generations of destroyer sailors and in so doing had furnished their newer sisters with the nucleus of their trained officers and men; but nevertheless the tired and rusty old four- stacker was, in 1939, well on her way to the back channel, with the scrap yard only one further step away.
All this was changed by the Nazi invasion of Poland in September, 1939, an event which was to give the four-stackers a stay of execution and a chance to prove their worth in action. Within weeks, forty of the most recently laid-up four-stackers were restored to service, and the remaining 67, many of which had lain idle for 18 years, were recommissioned within six months. Thus, by the summer of 1940, all 169 of the class were again on active duty.
The two-year period preceding Pearl Harbor was a busy one for the four-stackers, the majority of which were serving in the Atlantic, first on “neutrality” duty, and, as time went on, in an increasingly combatant capacity. By midsummer of 1940, eight squadrons were engaged in this duty. In September, 1940, this number was reduced by the transfer of fifty to the British and Canadian Navies at Halifax, and these transferees immediately found themselves combatants in the darkest days of the Battle of the Atlantic. It might be added that many of the remainder found the going equally unpleasant on neutrality patrol off New England and in support of the Icelandic occupation during the winter months of 1940-41.
The 50 ships transferred to the British made a substantial contribution to the winning of the Battle of the Atlantic at a time when the British Navy was desperately short of destroyers and escort vessels of any sort. In addition to the safe escort of countless merchant ships in convoy across the Atlantic, these four-stackers accounted for seven U-boat kills. Six of their number, however, fell victims to German submarines, and one other was sunk by a mine. Although the first U-boat “kill” by an ex-U. S. destroyer was credited to HMS Broadway (ex-U.S.S. Hunt) in May 1941, perhaps the most gallant antisubmarine action was that of HMS Stanley (ex-U.S.S. McCalla) which was finally torpedoed and sunk after having sunk two enemy submarines in a three-day running battle with a wolf pack off the coast of Portugal. Finally, no summary of these so old ships would be complete without mention of the “suicide” of HMS Campbeltown (ex-U.S.S. Buchanan), which, loaded with high explosives, was rammed into the locks at German-held St. Nazaire, France by her gallant British crew. The explosion disabled the tidal-basin port facilities of this important U-boat base. Thus the old Buchanan passed on, her name already assumed by a more modern sister which was soon to win fame in the Pacific theater.
On the other side of the world, in Asiatic waters, another group of four-stackers were, in 1941, virtually at war, although no act of hostility had yet taken place. The three months that followed Pearl Harbor found the ships of this squadron fighting for their lives against overwhelming surface and air opposition, and acquitting themselves brilliantly in the Macassar Straits, Lombok and Java Sea battles. Five of the thirteen were lost: the Peary bombed and sunk at Darwin; the Stewart being damaged by air attack while in the drydock at Soerabaya and later wrecked by her crew; and the Pope, Pillsbury and Edsall going down on the night of 1 March 1942 against overwhelming Japanese surface units while withdrawing from Java. The remaining eight escaped to Australia and later joined the Atlantic Fleet as escort vessels.
During 1942, the entire four-stacker fleet underwent extensive modifications to adapt them to their various roles in the war. Long before the war, a few had been converted to minelayers and seaplane tenders, and as the war progressed more were converted to these types. However, to meet the needs of the Pacific war, a large number were converted to light troop transports by the removal of two boilers, or to high speed minesweepers by the addition of special winches and sweep gear. Until 1943, however, the majority were most urgently needed in escort and anti submarine work, and were therefore modified to perform these duties more effectively. Among these changes were those of rearming them with 6 3"/50 cal A.A. guns at the expense of their former 4-inch battery and two of their four torpedo mounts, and the addition of a powerful depth-charge battery and the latest anti-submarine detection devices. By the expedient of removing the aftermost boiler of all the “light” boats and many of the “heavy” boats, fuel capacity and cruising radius was greatly increased at the expense of attaining speeds above 30 knots. By the removal of one stack in the escort type and the converted minelayers and minesweepers, and two stacks from the converted seaplane tenders and troop transports, the class rapidly lost its main distinguishing feature of four tall stacks, especially since the silhouette of all of them had been “streamlined” by lowering the height of their stacks and masts. As the war went on and the four- stackers were largely relieved of escort duties by new DE’s, more and more of their number were converted to troop transports and minesweepers until at the war’s end, only a few were actively engaged in anti-submarine work.
The history of the war is replete with the achievements of these old vessels, 33 of which deeds are recorded in the unit citations they were awarded. Some of the more conspicuous or remarkable episodes are briefly recalled :
The Gregory and Little, converted troop transports, going down off Guadalcanal against overwhelming Japanese surface odds, and the Colhoun, falling victim to air attack the next day.
The Bernadou and Cole, landing assault troops alongside the Mole at Safi, North Africa; and the Dallas going up the Sebu River to land troops in the same campaign.
The MacFarland, bombed and damaged while bringing in vitally needed gasoline to Guadalcanal; and the story of her remarkable jury-rigged repairs while hiding out from Japanese air attack.
The Borie, going down off the Azores in hand-to-hand conflict with a submarine larger than herself, and which she eventually sank.
The Blakeley, which survived a torpedo hit off Martinique, only to return to active service with the bow of her decommissioned sistership, the Taylor.
The Hopkins, which, as a fast minesweeper, earned two Navy Unit Commendations in the Pacific war.
Thus, over 30 years after the first of their number put to sea, the last of the 4 stackers have ended their long and useful careers. Truly they symbolized the “tin-can” Navy in the days when the ships were smaller but the seas just as rough, and stories of duty in them will live for many years to come whenever destroyer sailors meet. The names of many of their number that fell victim to enemy action during the war have already been passed on to newer and larger units, and thus their names will not be forgotten.
Fleet Admiral King must have had the four-stackers in mind when he told the Fleet “to do the best you can with what you’ve got.” Throughout the war, the destroyer men in these old ships did just that to their undying honor.
1. These nine ships, with their U. S., British and Russian names, were the following:
U.S.S. |
Fairfax |
H.M.S. |
Richmond |
U.S.S.R. |
Zhyvuchi |
“ |
Twiggs |
“ |
Leamington |
“ |
Zhuchi |
“ |
Crowninshield |
“ |
Chelsea |
“ |
Derzki |
“ |
Yarnall |
“ |
Lincoln |
“ |
(Scavenged for spare parts) |
“ |
Cowell |
“ |
Brighton |
“ |
Zharky |
“ |
Maddox |
“ |
Georgetown |
“ |
Zhostky |
“ |
Foote |
“ |
Roxborough |
“ |
Doblestni |
“ |
Thomas |
“ |
St. Albans |
“ |
Dostoini |
“ |
Herndon |
“ |
Church |
“ |
Deiatelnyi |
2. War losses were as follows: U.S.: Barry, Borie, Colhoun, Dickerson, Edsall, Gamble Gregory, Honey, Jacob Jones, Leary, Little, Long, McKean, Montgomery, Palmer, Peary, Perry, Pillsbury, Pope, Reuben James, Stewart, Ward. British losses: Bath (ex-Hopewell), Belmont (ex-Salterlee), Beverley (ex-Branch), Broadwater (ex-Mason), Campbeltown (ex-Buchanan), Rockingham (ex-Swasey), St. Croix (ex-McCook), Stanley (ex-McCalla).
Russian loss: Deiatelnyi (ex-HMS Churchill; ex-USS Herndon).
In addition, six more U. S. units were lost operationally: Truxtun, Sturtevant, Parrott, Thornton, Noa and Wasmuth.
3. HMS Mansfield (ex-USS Evans), HMS Lincoln (ex-USS Yarnall) and HMS St. Albans (ex-USS Thomas) all served in the Norwegian Navy (under British control) from 1942 to 1944. The last two were later lend-leased to Russia in 1944.
4. Presidential Unit Citations: Barry, Geo. E. Badger, Belknap, Bernadoit, Borie, Clemson, Cole, Dallas, Dupont, John D. Ford, Goff, Greene, Osmond Ingram, Lea, McFarland, Pope.
Navy Unit Commendations: Brooks, Crosby, Gilmer, Hamilton, Hopkins (twice), Hovey. Kilty, Long, Manley, McKean, Montgomery, Sands, Southard, Stringliam, Trever, Ward, Kane.
5. 3 lost in collisions; 7 stranded and lost at Pt. Honda, California in 1923.