Been waiting for the Gearing class, thanks Drach!! If the designs for the Sumner/Gearing class’s had been developed earlier, or if the war had gone longer etc, given the more effective systems and potential for the numbers of hulls to be built given how fast the US liked to churn out destroyers: what do u think the chances are that the Gearings would firstly outnumber, and then out perform and take over the ‘legendary’ status/reputation that the Fletchers earned and still hold historically? Thanks in advance :)
If the USN cancelled the Iowas and Alaska’s completely and used the extra resources and manpower for even more Fletchers and Gearings, how much more powerful would the USN be at Okinawa?
Quite so, followed by a round of World of Warships which varies in length from half an hour to the rest of the day. Such is the life of a retired bachelor gamer from 'waaaay back (Pong). Thanks, Drach!
While I was a member of the United States Navy I was made very familiar with the Gearing Class Destroyers. Not only did I serve on a Gearing Class Destroyer, USS Rogers (DD 876) named for the three Rogers Brothers, Jack Ellis Jr, Charles Ethbert, and Edward Keith, who lost their lives on the USS New Orleans at the Battle of Tassafaronga in the Solomon Islands on 20 Nov 1942. I also served on the last ship that was in still in active service from WW II the USS Jason (AR 8) before her retirement. While I was there part of my job was to provide services to other ships. Most of these were Gearing Class Destroyers.
My father passed away in May of this year. He was a signalman on the USS Gearing in the 1950's. A long time tin can sailor. ( the grayhounds of the sea! )
DASH "Somewhat questionable?" How about a total failure? They were taken off all Gearing and Sumner class DDs because they were uncontrollable. I served on a Sumner class sans DASH and was told that the reason DASH was "sh*t canned" was because too many flew beyond the reach of shipboard drone controls and disappeared over the horizon. A complete waste of money and ship's space. This was why manned helicopters were put on larger, subsequent ASW ships.
Yes, but the now empty hanger made a great crew’s lounge. On Cecil DD835 we had ours paneled, installed a movie screen and even had a projection booth.
I absolutely love the Gearing class. Some of them had absolutely ridiculously long careers. The USS Orleck DD 886 is in my home town of Lake Charles as a museum ship. But shes been absolutely neglected. And the city went back on its promise to help provide funding a first rate dock space. I hope the city of Jacksonville picks her up and takes care of her.
Whoa, fellow Lake Charles resident! I grew up there, too! I'd heard that the Orleck was there, but that there were major issues with her. Apparently barely seaworthy, lots of rust, asbestos all throughout, and not many people with the sort of know-how needed to repair or maintain a ship of that size. It's a shame, as she has a fairly interesting history.
@@johnsuire8671 the city promised to help with maintenance cost and give her a berth where everyone could see her and they dropped the ball. With the expected results.
My dad served on the Orleck during the Korean War. We have suggested that he might want to visit, but he stays away as he is loathe to see her in such deplorable shape.
My dad served on the Charles Howard Roan, DD-853 Gearing class destroyer as part of the Pacific 7th fleet during the Korean war. I think she was @ 2:04 in this video but only the 8 and 5 are showing while she's behind the DD-875. He has so many awesome stories about life on that ship I can listen to them over and over again. He was stationed at Sasebo and Yokosuka Japan but he was on her first "round the world tour" and went through both canals. He's 87 and has asbestosis, COPD and bronchiectasis from the asbestos that the ship was lined with, but he's never spoken of blame. He just says "well they didn't know back then.", and he's always said "she was a good ship."
My grandfather served on the Gearing-class Destroyer USS Holder (DDE-819) during the Korean War. Every picture I can find of her during that era shows the superfiring turret removed. Thank you for making this video.
Served on the USS Sarsfield DD837. A Gearing class Fram 1 in 1972-1974. She was sold and served in the Taiwan Navy as the ROCS Te Yang DD925 and still exists as a museum ship at Anping Port.
I served on the USS Hamner (DD-718) 1975-1976 as EMO and CICO. Yes they were getting pretty long in the tooth (Hamner was older than I was!) but with a little help from the snipes (pry bars under the main steam valves, or so the rumor had it) we could still hit 32 knots. Hamner makes a brief appearance at 1:28 moored alongside the Wiltsie (DD-716), the Chandler (DD-717) and to her portside the Osborne (DD-846). Thanks for doing one of your specials on this class.
Served on USS Hollister (DD-788), named for the three Hollister brothers, who were killed in 1943 while serving in the Navy. Recall picking up test lots of 5”/38 ammunition from Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach to fire at San Clemente island gunnery range. Decommissioned ship in 1979 at Naval Station Long Beach. PS - Naval Station and LB Shipyard are now a container port. Only Navy Mole looks the same with fuel pier as well as Military Sealift Command pier.
I was aboard USS Joseph Strauss DDG-16 during a 1972 deployment. Most of this deployment was off the coast of North Vietnam after the Easter Offensive started in late March 1972. On June 4, 1972, Strauss experienced two huge underwater explosions off the coast of North Vietnam (off Anchorage Island, that I have recently learned). Two other ships experienced the same underwater explosions. In July, 1972, USS Warrington DD-843 experienced the same underwater explosions. She was so badly damaged that she was towed to Subic Bay and was decommissioned. In August, 1972, USS Hollister experienced the same underwater explosions. An investigation later determined that these explosions were from U.S. mines that were mislaid. Instead of laying the mines off the coast of North Vietnam, the mines were laid off an island, but were marked of the coast of North Vietnam.
I have visited the Joseph P. Kennedy, a Gearing class destroyer, at Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts along with the USS Massachusetts and the submarine Liondish many times. It is a wonderful museum, and well worth the visit for anyone interested in World War 2 U.S. Naval history, or ships in general.
My dad was on the USS Brownson, DD-868. He tells me that one important change of the FRAM was to add an interior passage from the forward section to the aft. Prior to FRAM you had to get on the weather deck to move from bow to stern.
@@benjaminosborne8056 Its a submarine maritime exhibit, curtesy of the Japanese curators, at the behest of the ineffectual British doctrine of the early 1940's.
With the FRAM upgrades, except for the removal of the twin 5" turrets the superstructure wasn't completely redesigned so much as structures were added around the existing WWII structure. As an example the original bridge was completely surrounded by a much larger bridge with extra stations for all of the new ASW and radar picket equipment. The glass from the portholes in the original bridge were removed and a few passageways were cut so people could communicate. However, standing inside the bridge you could clearly see where the old and new parts were. This seems to be a common design feature of many, if not all, WWII surface combat ships that were modernized after the war. I've seen this feature on the USS Midway, the USS Yorktown, the USS Laffey, and the USS Wisconsin.
Great Britain: How many ships should be in this destroyer class? Oh about 15! American: How many ships should be in this destroyer class? Oh about ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY TWO!!!!
British destroyer classes were made up of 8 flottila ships - early on with an extra leader, later with Captain D and his staff on one of flottila ships. They were intended to operate together. Some were repeats, as in the Tribals and the J, K and N classes and the whole series of the War Emergency classes. They were all fit for purpose and served well, which is more than can be said of the Flush Deckers and the Summers, which were basically failures.
U.S.S. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr (DD 850) is one of these Gearing Class destroyers I have visited in the past and will visit again now that museums are reopening!
The last of the Gearing FRAM-Cans were still in service when I began my career in the USN. Old, cramped and high mileage many of their crews loved these old warhorses. I also saw several still in service along with Fletcher class ships in other navies (primarily Spain and Turkey) during the 1980's while I was serving in a Spruance class ship. Odd to think that these old girls would be more than a match for newer Ticonderoga CG and Burke DDG class ships in a gunfight, of course that would never happen (except in wargames.)
USS John R. Craig DD-885, 1967-1968. When I filled out my dream sheet when rotating Stateside from Da Nang RVN, I put "destroyer, San Diego'" for all 5 choices. Rather ironically, the John R. Craig, an ASW destroyer, was named for a submarine skipper who'd been sunk by a Japanese destroyer in WW2.
My Grandfather served aboard a Gearing-class, DD-714 William R. Rush in the late '50s/early '60s. Sadly he passed before I developed an interest in naval history and I never got to ask him about his service.
Served on the magnificent ship USS Henderson DD 785 of this Gearing class. We referred to her as our Hendy-Maru. Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club 1972 & 1973. She was moved to the reserve fleet late in (I think) 1973 before being eventually sold to Pakistan. I was an MM in the Aft Engine room.
The only destroyer I was ever on was the USS Recruit. A 2/3 size Dealey-class destroyer escort. She was commissioned July 27th 1949. I went through boot camp October ‘61-December ‘61. Thank you for your RUclips channel.
The DASH drone helicopters were well before their time, but the Gearings were just too small to handle a proper helo that would be of any use. After the navy went through various ASW helo's (SH-2F, SH-60B which have been upgraded to MH-60R), they have been using the Fire Scout drones alongside the MH-60R's.
I was reading through Friedman's history of the design and development of the US destroyer and found this interesting nugget. Just after the end of WW2, it was accepted that the maximum sustained sea speed of a "Gearing" at combat displacement and under combat conditions was 31.8 kts. For those that say that DASH was unusable, the JMSDF used the -50 for 25 years with a higher reliability rate and considerable success, primarily due to the installation of feedback sensors that helped eliminate the primary human error, loss of the horizon. And the -50 was also used successfully as a unmanned gunnery observation drone during Vietnam. Still, the equivalent British system was the Wasp, manned lightweight ASW helicopter. That would have been an interesting capability with VDS, giving the DD a decent range delivery system for light homing torpedoes. The problem with the FRAM DDs were that the best hull sonar available was SQS-23, which had a resolution range of 4K to 8Kyds, while Wasp and the QH-50 had a greater effective range, essentially to the visible horizon or 24-26 kyds, which meant if LINK 10 or 11 wasn't available, there would be difficulty coordinating target distribution among escorts.
My twin's father-in-law served on the USS Gearing in WWII, while our dad served as a Chief Petty Officer (medical) and went ashore with their contigent of Marines during the Korean War.
Thank you for creating this video. I served aboard one of the two Gearings currently serving as museum ships in the US (USS ORLECK DD886). This brought a warm nostalgic feeling to my heart. I truly enjoyed this. One of my favorite of your videos..
I'd really like to see a review of the Barnegat class ships. One of the most interesting was the USS Chincoteaque, surviving a punishing Japanese attack requiring repair in San Francisco. These were seaplane tenders. A number of them went to the U.S. Coast Guard after the war, and then were transferred to foreign navies. The Chincoteaque went to South Vietnam, then escaped to the Philipines where it became their flag ship for a number of years. Another Barnegat went to Greece where she was later converted to a cruise ship.
She was my First ship. Stationed in Seattle. Reserve Training Ship. And was still fast. Full rooster tail at Flank Speed. Had Torpedo tubes foward. And Depth Charge launchers astern. Plus Asroc midship. Decommissioned and I went to the USS New Jersey, after that!
It is so. They found themselves doing everything and becoming bloated. Given this development, I wonder why a revised "rating system" like that in the Age of Sail but with displacement ranges and rising rate numbers indicating larger ships never came about.
@Doge Maverick It sounds like you've never tried to use a swiss army knife for camping or as a tool. Depending on the model you get, it is basically a tool box that fits in your pocket. The knife is useful for dealing with line and low-quality woodworking. Some come with a boot-laces hook. The corkscrew is honestly kind of a waste of space. Some come with tweezers or toothpicks inside them. Bottle openers, scissors, magnifying glasses. Basically the tools are not terrible, just much worse than a specialist toolkit or a steak knife. The comparison to destroyers is pretty adequate, considering that destroyers were applied to a massive number of different roles. The only major differences are that destroyers are ships, and that several varieties of destroyers were explicitly specialized for specific roles.
Not far off. One Naval officed said American should have 150 carriers. He admitted readily that there was nothing scientific about the number and it just sounded nice. The Navy was like this is a great idea how would you like to go around the country and promote this. The scary thing is 2 or 3 more years and we have hit that number. Edit for spelling
@@catfish552 that vid is amazing. Japan literally had no chance especially given that the population had witnessed WW1 and WW2. They knew what the cost would be.
That's what the US did since the Civil War, when they discovered that a superiority in manufacturing capacity can be turned into a numerical superiority in military kit. The Union took a little while but once they geared up production of guns, rifles and what have you, the Confederacy was swamped. The same thing happened in WWI (Germany gave up once that millions of US soldiers were recruited and new materiel came to Flanders in apparently unlimited numbers), in WWII (clearly), and in Korea - until the Chinese poured in hundreds of thousands of soldiers, forcing a retreat of the US army, and then a stalemate. The tactic of material superiority does not work, apparently, in an asymetrical warfare situation (Vietnam, Afghanistan).
The U.S. Navy has nearly always been good at rebuilding ships to suit current needs and new technology. The Royal Navy has done this rather less often, concentrating on incremental modernisation like the Leander class frigates. I can think only of HMSs Blake and Tiger that had visibly obvious major modifications when upgraded.
In the early 80's just before it was transferred to the Pakistan Navy, I served for a very short time on a Gearing class DD, the USS Harold J. Ellison (DD-864). For a forty year ofd ship, it was in pretty good shape. Then the Pakistan Navy had it for ten years and then used it in a Sinkex.
I currently, work, sleep, eat and breathe on a Gearing Class DD.....The Joey P in Fall River MA. I love that ship. She's in need of some serious work to her hull but in great shape nonetheless.
Herbert J Thomas DDR833. Was shocked to see her on this video. My dad served two tours with her in Korea and I always loved the stories he told about being a 19 year old out in the world (and combat) for the first time. She was sold to Taiwan and eventually scrapped in 70s.
Did my Youngster (midshipman) Cruise on the USS Henderson (DD-785, Gearing Class, FRAM 1) in the spring of 1980. She was sold to Pakistan later that year. Thanks for this.
Saw a bunch of these somewhere in the bay north of San Francisco. Mothballed. I was on a Pacific Surfliner on my way up to Seattle. It was a gorgeous and yet sad site to see. There was an older man who was crying as we passed on by. Retired Navy. Served on the Gearing Class destroyers.
I looked up this video for this reason, but it made me smile to see my grandfather's ship (DD-782, USS Rowan) at 3:53. He may well have been on board when that photo was taken if it's from the Korean War.
I served on two Gearings DD-714 Wm. R. Rush and DD-839 Power. '75-'78 out of Ft. Schuyler, Bronx, NY. I was on them for Decommissioning. One going to S. Korea and the other to ROC.
@@lubecer7453 I’m not sure what my family had to do with consolidated steel in orange, Texas but I have the company news paper announcing the launch of her.😊
My father Leigh Wheeler served on the USS Benner DD-807 from commissioning in February 1945 until April 1946. The Benner was a picket ship attached to Task Force 38, arriving south of Japan on 26 July 1945. It was part of a squadron of destroyers that was attacked by a kamikaze on 9 August, which struck the USS Borie DD-704, killing 48 men and wounding 66. A few days later the war was over.
At approximately 1:30 there is a picture of the USS Wiltise DD 716; I had the privilege of serving aboard her in 1975. She is actually still afloat as of this date.
Hi Drachinifel, Great video as always....Can you do a video on the the Gearing DD 875 Henry W. Tucker ? My dad served on her in Vietnam. There is quite a bit about the Tucker in the book Hachi Nana Do: An American Fighting Ship
You should do the USS Razorback. A Baleo class submarine that was at the Japanese surrender in ww2 and was later sold to the Turkish navy making it the world's longest serving submarine if I remember right. It's floating in the Arkansas river next to a tugboat that was at pearl harbor as well.
My dad served aboard the USS Richard B. Anderson during the Korean War in damage control. He told us kids that the skipper used to love to ride the swells making many of the crew seasick. They apparently did a lot of shore bombardment along the coast with North Korea claiming they had sunk her on several occasions. They, of course, were wrong. I believe that ship was later sold to Taiwan.
...and, one of those ships, ex- USS Harwood DDE -861 / TCG Kocatepe D-354 sunk due 'Friendly Fire ' of Turkish Air Force in 1974's Cyprus War. 67 of crew lost their lives, 42 survived. RIP
As always, just as their need expires, the type attains the peak of development. Just as buggy technology reached a high pinnacle, the automobile was introduced. Just as the propeller fighters reached their pinnacle, jets were introduced. Present destroyers in the US Navy are as big as old light cruisers, and the frigates have become the class that does all the yeomen work of the old destroyers, and destroyer escorts. Now, they've come up with a completely different ship; the littoral warship, for warfare in shallow water. Different ships, better equipped, but same mission.
Thanks Mark. You provide so much more detail to these ships I have never heard of before in WW 1 & 2. I have upped my Patreon to Lieutenant. It may not not be much, but I hope this helps. God Bless and keep these coming!
Pinned post for Q&A :)
Been waiting for the Gearing class, thanks Drach!!
If the designs for the Sumner/Gearing class’s had been developed earlier, or if the war had gone longer etc, given the more effective systems and potential for the numbers of hulls to be built given how fast the US liked to churn out destroyers: what do u think the chances are that the Gearings would firstly outnumber, and then out perform and take over the ‘legendary’ status/reputation that the Fletchers earned and still hold historically?
Thanks in advance :)
How many gears are found in a Gearing?
Between adding length and throwing in more engine, which was the preferable thing to go for when trying to get ships to go faster?
If the USN cancelled the Iowas and Alaska’s completely and used the extra resources and manpower for even more Fletchers and Gearings, how much more powerful would the USN be at Okinawa?
What are some differences between the gearing and the forest Sherman Classes
Used to wake up Saturday morning for cartoons. Now I get up for my my 3-58 minute guide to warships.
Still the same feeling of an enjoyable Saturday morning but with ships.
Indeed
Quite so, followed by a round of World of Warships which varies in length from half an hour to the rest of the day. Such is the life of a retired bachelor gamer from 'waaaay back (Pong). Thanks, Drach!
Yep, just laying in the floor watching tv and drinking chocolate milk ;-D
A 5 minute guide that actually falls between 5 and 6 minutes in length? What sorcery is this?
While I was a member of the United States Navy I was made very familiar with the Gearing Class Destroyers. Not only did I serve on a Gearing Class Destroyer, USS Rogers (DD 876) named for the three Rogers Brothers, Jack Ellis Jr, Charles Ethbert, and Edward Keith, who lost their lives on the USS New Orleans at the Battle of Tassafaronga in the Solomon Islands on 20 Nov 1942. I also served on the last ship that was in still in active service from WW II the USS Jason (AR 8) before her retirement. While I was there part of my job was to provide services to other ships. Most of these were Gearing Class Destroyers.
Nice. Was cool to watch this. My Dad served on DD-833 Herbert J Thomas during Vietnam, during either the last or second to last tour for the ship.
USS Noa DD841, a Gearing class destroyer, was the ship that recovered John Glenn after he became the first American to achieve orbit.
Im still passionate with these WW2 Class Destroyers like Fletcher, Gearing and so fort
I had no idea another family, the Rogers, nearly lost all of there boys at the same time like the Sullivans. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
Nice. One of my fathers friends served on the Jason during the early to mid 80s from what I understand
DD878 FRAM I 1971-1973 Join the Navy and 'See' the World - we saw a LOT of water. No Regrets. Great Ship and Great bunch of Shipmates!
My father passed away in May of this year. He was a signalman on the USS Gearing in the 1950's. A long time tin can sailor. ( the grayhounds of the sea! )
May your Father RIP, ❤, fm another Signalman I served on the USS T. E. Chandler DD-717. BZ...
DASH "Somewhat questionable?" How about a total failure? They were taken off all Gearing and Sumner class DDs because they were uncontrollable. I served on a Sumner class sans DASH and was told that the reason DASH was "sh*t canned" was because too many flew beyond the reach of shipboard drone controls and disappeared over the horizon. A complete waste of money and ship's space. This was why manned helicopters were put on larger, subsequent ASW ships.
Yes, but the now empty hanger made a great crew’s lounge. On Cecil DD835 we had ours paneled, installed a movie screen and even had a projection booth.
"...somewhat questionable..." It's that studied English understatement 😀
@@pitsnipe5559 served on Cecil 1974-1976 Bt2
I absolutely love the Gearing class. Some of them had absolutely ridiculously long careers.
The USS Orleck DD 886 is in my home town of Lake Charles as a museum ship. But shes been absolutely neglected. And the city went back on its promise to help provide funding a first rate dock space. I hope the city of Jacksonville picks her up and takes care of her.
Whoa, fellow Lake Charles resident! I grew up there, too! I'd heard that the Orleck was there, but that there were major issues with her. Apparently barely seaworthy, lots of rust, asbestos all throughout, and not many people with the sort of know-how needed to repair or maintain a ship of that size. It's a shame, as she has a fairly interesting history.
@@johnsuire8671 the city promised to help with maintenance cost and give her a berth where everyone could see her and they dropped the ball.
With the expected results.
My dad served on the Orleck during the Korean War. We have suggested that he might want to visit, but he stays away as he is loathe to see her in such deplorable shape.
@reverse thrust where did I say New Orleans???
The board of directors were completely worthless, except for Mr Ron, Willy, Leland, Steve and Sam.
My dad served on the Charles Howard Roan, DD-853 Gearing class destroyer as part of the Pacific 7th fleet during the Korean war. I think she was @ 2:04 in this video but only the 8 and 5 are showing while she's behind the DD-875. He has so many awesome stories about life on that ship I can listen to them over and over again. He was stationed at Sasebo and Yokosuka Japan but he was on her first "round the world tour" and went through both canals. He's 87 and has asbestosis, COPD and bronchiectasis from the asbestos that the ship was lined with, but he's never spoken of blame. He just says "well they didn't know back then.", and he's always said "she was a good ship."
My grandfather served on the Gearing-class Destroyer USS Holder (DDE-819) during the Korean War. Every picture I can find of her during that era shows the superfiring turret removed. Thank you for making this video.
Yes, that was done under the navy’s FRAME program.
Served on the USS Sarsfield DD837. A Gearing class Fram 1 in 1972-1974. She was sold and served in the Taiwan Navy as the ROCS Te Yang DD925 and still exists as a museum ship at Anping Port.
I served on the USS Hamner (DD-718) 1975-1976 as EMO and CICO. Yes they were getting pretty long in the tooth (Hamner was older than I was!) but with a little help from the snipes (pry bars under the main steam valves, or so the rumor had it) we could still hit 32 knots. Hamner makes a brief appearance at 1:28 moored alongside the Wiltsie (DD-716), the Chandler (DD-717) and to her portside the Osborne (DD-846). Thanks for doing one of your specials on this class.
This Electrician's Mate helped keep the USS Steinaker DD-863 (@2:13) afloat with chicken wire and 'monkey shit'.
The Gearing FRAM I were one of the finest looking destroyers ever built, IMHO.
Served on USS Hollister (DD-788), named for the three Hollister brothers, who were killed in 1943 while serving in the Navy. Recall picking up test lots of 5”/38 ammunition from Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach to fire at San Clemente island gunnery range. Decommissioned ship in 1979 at Naval Station Long Beach.
PS - Naval Station and LB Shipyard are now a container port. Only Navy Mole looks the same with fuel pier as well as Military Sealift Command pier.
I was aboard USS Joseph Strauss DDG-16 during a 1972 deployment. Most of this deployment was off the coast of North Vietnam after the Easter Offensive started in late March 1972. On June 4, 1972, Strauss experienced two huge underwater explosions off the coast of North Vietnam (off Anchorage Island, that I have recently learned). Two other ships experienced the same underwater explosions. In July, 1972, USS Warrington DD-843 experienced the same underwater explosions. She was so badly damaged that she was towed to Subic Bay and was decommissioned. In August, 1972, USS Hollister experienced the same underwater explosions. An investigation later determined that these explosions were from U.S. mines that were mislaid. Instead of laying the mines off the coast of North Vietnam, the mines were laid off an island, but were marked of the coast of North Vietnam.
I still remember the Gearings, the Sumners and the Fletchers. Operated with 'em all back when.
Anyone else ever get so into reading the comments that you miss the video and have to start it over
I have visited the Joseph P. Kennedy, a Gearing class destroyer, at Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts along with the USS Massachusetts and the submarine Liondish many times. It is a wonderful museum, and well worth the visit for anyone interested in World War 2 U.S. Naval history, or ships in general.
submarine U. S. S. Lionfish *
Served in three of these; USS Leary DD879, USS Charles P. Cecil DD835, and USS Glennon DD840. Fine ships.
Thank you
My dad was on the USS Brownson, DD-868. He tells me that one important change of the FRAM was to add an interior passage from the forward section to the aft. Prior to FRAM you had to get on the weather deck to move from bow to stern.
That must have been difficult in bad weather.
Negative, from the sumner foraward they were built ground up with an inboard passage.
I served on the USS T.E. Chandler DD-717. Left Her in 1968 heading back to the States for Discharge.
2:10 - this is Brisbane, Australia - under the Story Bridge, on the Fortitude vally end of Brisbane. Looks very different today! Great photo!
Jinks...indeed, the Howard smith docks under what’s was then a very new story bridge :)
Ha, good to see i'm no the only one who noticed that!
Instead of 4 Gearings, now it houses breweries, bars and riverfront restaurants :)
Wow. The first time i was this fast, HMS Prince of Wales is a museum ship
explain?
@@benjaminosborne8056 Its a submarine maritime exhibit, curtesy of the Japanese curators, at the behest of the ineffectual British doctrine of the early 1940's.
Not likely to be there for long due to renovations by newly arrived Chinese interests.....
@@allangibson8494 Damned tourists . . .
Had my 3rd Class Midshipman training cruise on the USS Bausell, DD-845. I decided that Surface Warfare was where I belong in the US Navy.
DD-845 Sailor! No shore leave for you buddy!!! ;)
@@billlong9606 Fixed, guess its time to get the memory checked!
DD-845 Yokosuka Japan 1976 thru decommissioning. Best times, best crew, best command. Haze grey and underway.
With the FRAM upgrades, except for the removal of the twin 5" turrets the superstructure wasn't completely redesigned so much as structures were added around the existing WWII structure. As an example the original bridge was completely surrounded by a much larger bridge with extra stations for all of the new ASW and radar picket equipment. The glass from the portholes in the original bridge were removed and a few passageways were cut so people could communicate. However, standing inside the bridge you could clearly see where the old and new parts were. This seems to be a common design feature of many, if not all, WWII surface combat ships that were modernized after the war. I've seen this feature on the USS Midway, the USS Yorktown, the USS Laffey, and the USS Wisconsin.
Thanks, I wondered what happened in FRAM1 to GREENE DDR711. I got off in CHS days before she went to NH' Spent the Cuban Missile Crisis on board.
The USS HERBERT J THOMAS DD-833 HAD ITS SUPERSTRUCTURE COMPLETELY REMOVED DOWN TO THE DECK
As a former destroyer sailor (though on an Adams-class DDG), I really appreciated your take on the Gearings. Thank you very much, Drach.
Great Britain: How many ships should be in this destroyer class? Oh about 15!
American: How many ships should be in this destroyer class?
Oh about ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY TWO!!!!
British destroyer classes were made up of 8 flottila ships - early on with an extra leader, later with Captain D and his staff on one of flottila ships. They were intended to operate together. Some were repeats, as in the Tribals and the J, K and N classes and the whole series of the War Emergency classes. They were all fit for purpose and served well, which is more than can be said of the Flush Deckers and the Summers, which were basically failures.
U.S.S. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr (DD 850) is one of these Gearing Class destroyers I have visited in the past and will visit again now that museums are reopening!
The last of the Gearing FRAM-Cans were still in service when I began my career in the USN. Old, cramped and high mileage many of their crews loved these old warhorses. I also saw several still in service along with Fletcher class ships in other navies (primarily Spain and Turkey) during the 1980's while I was serving in a Spruance class ship.
Odd to think that these old girls would be more than a match for newer Ticonderoga CG and Burke DDG class ships in a gunfight, of course that would never happen (except in wargames.)
USS Steinaker DD-863 1972-73
USS John R. Craig DD-885, 1967-1968. When I filled out my dream sheet when rotating Stateside from Da Nang RVN, I put "destroyer, San Diego'" for all 5 choices. Rather ironically, the John R. Craig, an ASW destroyer, was named for a submarine skipper who'd been sunk by a Japanese destroyer in WW2.
What is this a 5minute guide that is still at 5min? I almost feel cheated :D
Same here! I wanted to hear the dirt on the DASH helos.
Just watched the commissioning of HMS Prince of Wales and now this......Good Morning Everyone !
My Grandfather served aboard a Gearing-class, DD-714 William R. Rush in the late '50s/early '60s. Sadly he passed before I developed an interest in naval history and I never got to ask him about his service.
Hey! Image of Story Bridge, Brisbane, Australia. Big Piss up Palace on those docks now.
Yeah go Brisbane! Was great to see it featured.
Served on the magnificent ship USS Henderson DD 785 of this Gearing class. We referred to her as our Hendy-Maru. Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club 1972 & 1973. She was moved to the reserve fleet late in (I think) 1973 before being eventually sold to Pakistan. I was an MM in the Aft Engine room.
The only destroyer I was ever on was the USS Recruit. A 2/3 size Dealey-class destroyer escort. She was commissioned July 27th 1949. I went through boot camp October ‘61-December ‘61. Thank you for your RUclips channel.
Drach and breakfast, good way to start the day
The DASH drone helicopters were well before their time, but the Gearings were just too small to handle a proper helo that would be of any use. After the navy went through various ASW helo's (SH-2F, SH-60B which have been upgraded to MH-60R), they have been using the Fire Scout drones alongside the MH-60R's.
I was reading through Friedman's history of the design and development of the US destroyer and found this interesting nugget. Just after the end of WW2, it was accepted that the maximum sustained sea speed of a "Gearing" at combat displacement and under combat conditions was 31.8 kts.
For those that say that DASH was unusable, the JMSDF used the -50 for 25 years with a higher reliability rate and considerable success, primarily due to the installation of feedback sensors that helped eliminate the primary human error, loss of the horizon. And the -50 was also used successfully as a unmanned gunnery observation drone during Vietnam. Still, the equivalent British system was the Wasp, manned lightweight ASW helicopter. That would have been an interesting capability with VDS, giving the DD a decent range delivery system for light homing torpedoes. The problem with the FRAM DDs were that the best hull sonar available was SQS-23, which had a resolution range of 4K to 8Kyds, while Wasp and the QH-50 had a greater effective range, essentially to the visible horizon or 24-26 kyds, which meant if LINK 10 or 11 wasn't available, there would be difficulty coordinating target distribution among escorts.
My twin's father-in-law served on the USS Gearing in WWII, while our dad served as a Chief Petty Officer (medical) and went ashore with their contigent of Marines during the Korean War.
Thank you for creating this video. I served aboard one of the two Gearings currently serving as museum ships in the US (USS ORLECK DD886). This brought a warm nostalgic feeling to my heart. I truly enjoyed this. One of my favorite of your videos..
I was on her, even folded and presented a flag to former crew mates on her. Did my retirement on her as well.
@@lelandgaunt9985 I served aboard her until early 82.
@@BrianRLange
I appreciate you!
I served on the USS Gearing in 1971 and '72. She was decommissioned and scrapped shortly after that. By that time we could only hit 30 knots.
Favorite DD class, especially those FRAM upgrades that gives it a modern look while maintaining still that older one
KS: The FRAM destroyers were long serving and very capable ships!
I do adore the look of American postwar bridge/superstructure. The FRAM Gearings look wonderful.
@@KB4QAA except for the dash drone fail
Really nice video about this class..My late brother served on # 887. This video brought back lots of great memories of him. Thank YOu
I'd really like to see a review of the Barnegat class ships. One of the most interesting was the USS Chincoteaque, surviving a punishing Japanese attack requiring repair in San Francisco. These were seaplane tenders. A number of them went to the U.S. Coast Guard after the war, and then were transferred to foreign navies. The Chincoteaque went to South Vietnam, then escaped to the Philipines where it became their flag ship for a number of years. Another Barnegat went to Greece where she was later converted to a cruise ship.
I was on the USS McKEAN DD784 in 1979 for a week in Seattle. She was a fram 2 configuration. Her fate...she's now at the bottom of Azores.
She was my First ship. Stationed in Seattle. Reserve Training Ship.
And was still fast. Full rooster tail at Flank Speed.
Had Torpedo tubes foward. And Depth Charge launchers astern. Plus Asroc midship.
Decommissioned and I went to the USS New Jersey, after that!
I recommend both the US destroyers named Laffy
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Laffey (disambiguation page)
Destroyers seem to be the Swiss Army Knife of many navies
It is so. They found themselves doing everything and becoming bloated.
Given this development, I wonder why a revised "rating system" like that in the Age of Sail but with displacement ranges and rising rate numbers indicating larger ships never came about.
@Doge Maverick Swiss army knives are extremely useful in most non-stabbing applications.
@Doge Maverick It sounds like you've never tried to use a swiss army knife for camping or as a tool. Depending on the model you get, it is basically a tool box that fits in your pocket. The knife is useful for dealing with line and low-quality woodworking. Some come with a boot-laces hook. The corkscrew is honestly kind of a waste of space. Some come with tweezers or toothpicks inside them. Bottle openers, scissors, magnifying glasses.
Basically the tools are not terrible, just much worse than a specialist toolkit or a steak knife. The comparison to destroyers is pretty adequate, considering that destroyers were applied to a massive number of different roles.
The only major differences are that destroyers are ships, and that several varieties of destroyers were explicitly specialized for specific roles.
Thanks for a great video! I served on the USS Harold J. Ellison DD-864 from 1979 to 1982. She was decommissioned in 1983 and sold to Pakistan.
Great to see another Happy Jack sailor remembering our fine ship.
My dad served on the USS Small (DD-838) in Korea. In 1951 the ship lost its bow to a mine and had to back up all 300 miles to Japan.
Back in my day, if a 5-minute guide wasn't at least 10 minutes long, we demanded our nickel back.
I think most people, even canadians, would prefer just a three minute 5-minute guide over nickelback.
'murica economy: lets add another 150 destroyers.
As potential history said. America had an economy so big we sicked the economy on the economy to fix the economy.
Not far off. One Naval officed said American should have 150 carriers. He admitted readily that there was nothing scientific about the number and it just sounded nice. The Navy was like this is a great idea how would you like to go around the country and promote this. The scary thing is 2 or 3 more years and we have hit that number.
Edit for spelling
Watch Military History Visualized's "Why Japan had NO Chance in WW2" video. It's hilarious.
@@catfish552 that vid is amazing. Japan literally had no chance especially given that the population had witnessed WW1 and WW2. They knew what the cost would be.
That's what the US did since the Civil War, when they discovered that a superiority in manufacturing capacity can be turned into a numerical superiority in military kit. The Union took a little while but once they geared up production of guns, rifles and what have you, the Confederacy was swamped. The same thing happened in WWI (Germany gave up once that millions of US soldiers were recruited and new materiel came to Flanders in apparently unlimited numbers), in WWII (clearly), and in Korea - until the Chinese poured in hundreds of thousands of soldiers, forcing a retreat of the US army, and then a stalemate. The tactic of material superiority does not work, apparently, in an asymetrical warfare situation (Vietnam, Afghanistan).
I served as a Boiler Tech on U.S.S. Meredith DD-890, the Last of the Gearings during the early 1970s. She had the FRAM 1 Conversion.
Every time you mention them taking guns off of a ship, my pet bald eagle cries.
well, in this case they took it off to add a nuke capable launcher, so I think we're safe.
Wow an actual 5 min guide is this a Christmas present?
The Bedford Incident movie features a horrible use of the then new ASROC.
A fantastic movie. The Cold War Moby Dick.
Well, It worked... Sub died. Of course they get off a torpedos spread in revenge.
@Jacob Zondag You've not seen one of the great films of the Cold War by now? It's not exactly a new film....
Right. I am not sure why this subject and spoiler had to be mentioned. The destroyer in the movie was of the Farragut class.
The U.S. Navy has nearly always been good at rebuilding ships to suit current needs and new technology. The Royal Navy has done this rather less often, concentrating on incremental modernisation like the Leander class frigates. I can think only of HMSs Blake and Tiger that had visibly obvious major modifications when upgraded.
In the early 80's just before it was transferred to the Pakistan Navy, I served for a very short time on a Gearing class DD, the USS Harold J. Ellison (DD-864). For a forty year ofd ship, it was in pretty good shape. Then the Pakistan Navy had it for ten years and then used it in a Sinkex.
Nice photo of these ships docked in Brisbane (Qld Australia) under the Story bridge @ 2:04.
Served on Charles P Cecil DD835, Robert L Wilson DD847, and Douglas H Fox DD779.
Served on a Gearing, USS Vesole DD878, in the radio shack. Thanks for the video.
I currently, work, sleep, eat and breathe on a Gearing Class DD.....The Joey P in Fall River MA. I love that ship. She's in need of some serious work to her hull but in great shape nonetheless.
Herbert J Thomas DDR833. Was shocked to see her on this video. My dad served two tours with her in Korea and I always loved the stories he told about being a 19 year old out in the world (and combat) for the first time.
She was sold to Taiwan and eventually scrapped in 70s.
The Gearings are my favorite class of US destroyers
Served on USS Stickall DDR 888
2:05 I was at the same spot today under the Story Bridge, it’s an entertainment hub now
Did my Youngster (midshipman) Cruise on the USS Henderson (DD-785, Gearing Class, FRAM 1) in the spring of 1980. She was sold to Pakistan later that year.
Thanks for this.
Saw a bunch of these somewhere in the bay north of San Francisco. Mothballed. I was on a Pacific Surfliner on my way up to Seattle. It was a gorgeous and yet sad site to see. There was an older man who was crying as we passed on by. Retired Navy. Served on the Gearing Class destroyers.
I looked up this video for this reason, but it made me smile to see my grandfather's ship (DD-782, USS Rowan) at 3:53. He may well have been on board when that photo was taken if it's from the Korean War.
Very interesting thanks for sharing.
I was a boiler tech onboarding USS Furse DD882. We did a Med cruise in 1970. She was decommissioned in 1971 and sold to Spain.
I served on two Gearings DD-714 Wm. R. Rush and DD-839 Power. '75-'78 out of Ft. Schuyler, Bronx, NY. I was on them for Decommissioning. One going to S. Korea and the other to ROC.
My dad was a plank owner on the Kenneth D. Bailey...DD713. Sadly...she was sold to the Iranian Navy...
So fast, the Baltic Fleet hasn't reached the Pacific yet.
So fast that the Kamchatka hasn't had the time to "spot" some torpedo boats yet
There are rumours that some of it is still out there somewhere even today.
@@propellhatt The Kamchatka. The only ship both sides wanted to sink
USS Damato DD-871 ! My first ship..
Newman K Perry DD 883, Newport RI fm 75-79 I was an OS
@@lubecer7453
I’m not sure what my family had to do with consolidated steel in orange, Texas but I have the company news paper announcing the launch of her.😊
Aw, a Gearing without torpedoes but a whack ton of radar... Well, I guess coming soon™ to World of Warships
Love the Gearing Class! Spent my 15th summer as a cadet aboard the USS Henderson DD 785, thanks for this Guide.
My father Leigh Wheeler served on the USS Benner DD-807 from commissioning in February 1945 until April 1946. The Benner was a picket ship attached to Task Force 38, arriving south of Japan on 26 July 1945. It was part of a squadron of destroyers that was attacked by a kamikaze on 9 August, which struck the USS Borie DD-704, killing 48 men and wounding 66. A few days later the war was over.
Good looking ships.
I remember in 1976 taking a tour on a US Navy Reserve Gearing class destroyers.
Could you possibly do a special video about WW2 ships that are still in service today or is that outside the scope of your videos?
Museum ships....I always love hearing that.
At approximately 1:30 there is a picture of the USS Wiltise DD 716; I had the privilege of serving aboard her in 1975. She is actually still afloat as of this date.
We used to operate with the Meredith but could not keep up with her Uss Harwood DD861.
@2:13 is the USS Steinaker DD-863 I spent two years aboard her. It was a good ship.
Hi Drachinifel, Great video as always....Can you do a video on the the Gearing DD 875 Henry W. Tucker ? My dad served on her in Vietnam. There is quite a bit about the Tucker in the book Hachi Nana Do: An American Fighting Ship
My dad served aboard Power, DD-839. He pretty much traveled around the world on it
The legendary USS Gyatt was of this class...
My dad served on Basilone 61-63.
Every video is a dopamine hit
You should do the USS Razorback. A Baleo class submarine that was at the Japanese surrender in ww2 and was later sold to the Turkish navy making it the world's longest serving submarine if I remember right. It's floating in the Arkansas river next to a tugboat that was at pearl harbor as well.
Correct. I toured her recently and she is in excellent condition.
Taiwan has the oldest Subs at last check.
I served onboarding DD-845, USS Bausell back in 1975-1977. She was decommissioned in 1977 to test the new Harpoon systems.
Served exact same time. Great ship n crew. CICS sailor.
My dad served aboard the USS Richard B. Anderson during the Korean War in damage control. He told us kids that the skipper used to love to ride the swells making many of the crew seasick. They apparently did a lot of shore bombardment along the coast with North Korea claiming they had sunk her on several occasions. They, of course, were wrong. I believe that ship was later sold to Taiwan.
"Increased air threat" = kamikazis
Also emerging jet technology.
@@kyle857 not so much the Japanese, but the Okha rocket-powered bomb might be counted here.
Frank DeMaris
The Japanese did have some jets (copied off the Germans), though they never got any into mass production.
1:32 in.......USS WILTSIE DD716....(pre Framm)......
my home...'63-"66
Awesome
...and, one of those ships, ex- USS Harwood DDE -861 / TCG Kocatepe D-354 sunk due 'Friendly Fire ' of Turkish Air Force in 1974's Cyprus War. 67 of crew lost their lives, 42 survived. RIP
One outstanding video after another.
I 1976 took a tour of a Gearing destroyer still service. At the sub base in CT. IIRC it was manned by reservists with a skeleton crew on weekdays
I was out of Newport RI on the Newman K Perry DD883
That would USS Charles P. Cecil DD 835. I served in her from 10/73 to 9/74 forward fireroom.
@@pitsnipe5559Me too. Forward fire room 1974 to 1976
As always, just as their need expires, the type attains the peak of development. Just as buggy technology reached a high pinnacle, the automobile was introduced. Just as the propeller fighters reached their pinnacle, jets were introduced. Present destroyers in the US Navy are as big as old light cruisers, and the frigates have become the class that does all the yeomen work of the old destroyers, and destroyer escorts. Now, they've come up with a completely different ship; the littoral warship, for warfare in shallow water. Different ships, better equipped, but same mission.
Thanks Mark. You provide so much more detail to these ships I have never heard of before in WW 1 & 2. I have upped my Patreon to Lieutenant. It may not not be much, but I hope this helps. God Bless and keep these coming!
Can you do an in depth video on USS Marblehead...was fascinated by that story as a kid, even still today!