Torpedo Mounts

[Navboyry]

Could the torpedo launchers on the Fletcher class be reloaded at sea? Did they usually carry more than 10 torps?

[Werner]

Technically they could be reloaded at sea. They have a derrick between the deck houses for this purpose. I would hate to be tasked with loading a huge torpedo in a seaway, though, let alone see it come aboard on a highline.

They carried no reloads. The only class to carry reload torpedoes was Porter, in lockers amidships, behind the bulwarks.

[bengtsson]

My old Fletcher class [USS Shields] carried two ASW torpedo mounts up on the deck where the older torpedo mount used to be. This was 1969. We lost one 5inch mount on the aft part of the after deck house as well. The Fletcher class was a very comfortable ship with the reduced topside weight and crew quarters were less crowded as well. If you haven't sailed on a Fletcher class DD, you've never been a real USN sailor
Just kidding there , but I'm sure someone will get mad at me

Bob B.

[Werner]

Friedman says essentially the same thing in his design book. The Forrest Sherman and Charles F. Adams were designed largely in response to a specific request from the fleet for ships which behaved like a Fletcher. They were well-liked and admired by all.

[bengtsson]

Friedman says essentially the same thing in his design book. The Forrest Sherman and Charles F. Adams were designed largely in response to a specific request from the fleet for ships which behaved like a Fletcher. They were well-liked and admired by all.

I sailed in a Forrest Sherman [Richard S. Edwards] after her update in 1971. That was a real treat. There was a ship that had all the sea keeping improvements and crew comforts that the older classes lacked.
What amazed me about the Fletchers was all the armament they carried in WWII. The topside weight must have been way off the scale when you add in all the Light AA 20mm-40mm and the crew size to man them. They must have used the 'hot bunk' system as there was NO way there were bunks for all with those crew sizes. The Fletchers were top notch ships for the type of naval war they were engaged in.

Bob B.

[Dick J]

There was a design requirement for a number of reload torpedoes in many US classes up to, and including, the Fletchers. The Porters were unusual in having a full set of 8 reloads, most had only 4 in spite of the last classes having quintuple mounts. The torpedoes were not, however, intended for reloading at sea. It was expected that they would be loaded at forward anchorages, where other replacements might not be available. When the wartime increases in radar and AA began, the reloads were one of the first items removed as weight compensation, so no Fletchers carried reloads into combat. I am not sure if they were ever actually installed on them.

[bengtsson]

Yes, the Fletchers design called for space reserved for four reload torpedos. When built, the Fletchers had Stowage for four reaload torpedos like the Porter class. Although just like the Porters, there was no QUICK RELOAD mechanism provided. So even had they taken the four to sea, it seems unlikely they would have been able to be reloaded in a combat situation. But probably after action, the time could be taken to put the four into empty tubes and thus save a trip to a base or supply ship like a destroyer tender.

Bob B.

[Werner]

There was a design requirement for a number of reload torpedoes in many US classes up to, and including, the Fletchers. The Porters were unusual in having a full set of 8 reloads, most had only 4 in spite of the last classes having quintuple mounts. The torpedoes were not, however, intended for reloading at sea. It was expected that they would be loaded at forward anchorages, where other replacements might not be available. When the wartime increases in radar and AA began, the reloads were one of the first items removed as weight compensation, so no Fletchers carried reloads into combat. I am not sure if they were ever actually installed on them.

I realize the reloads were long gone by 1942, but if I were driving a Porter, I would be inclined to lose the reload torpedoes and their aluminum lockers as soon as I left Pearl. There is enough unprotected high explosives there to cut the ship in half, and I have almost no AA weapons to prevent a stray 20mm round from a Zero from hitting them.

Carrying them into combat is like a Marine packing his "A" uniform in his backpack for the invasion of Tarawa. Not particularly useful.

[Navboyry]

Thanks for the insight, y'all.

Not a real US Sailor unless you rode a Fletcher, Hell I never even got a ship billet. Four years in the Navy only spent about an hour aboard a ship . . . . stupid Master at Arms rate.

[Sean Hert]

Good info guys!

[bengtsson]

Thanks for the insight, y'all.

Not a real US Sailor unless you rode a Fletcher, Hell I never even got a ship billet. Four years in the Navy only spent about an hour aboard a ship . . . . stupid Master at Arms rate.

That's too bad, going to sea on a small ship is an experience second to none. [except , you know what] My first day at sea was on a Fletcher Reserve Fleet DD. Coming out into a nice big Pacific swell put me in the heads in about 30 minutes! I was lucky ,as one time seasick was about it for me. It was all good after that.
You need a Sonar rate if you want lots of sea time. Only once ever 5-6 years does a sonarman get a shore billet at one of the ASW schools.
Bob B.