Cassin-class destroyer

USS Cassin in Coast Guard service
Class overview
NameCassin class
BuildersVarious
Operators
Preceded byPaulding class
Succeeded byAylwin class
Built1912–1915
In commission1913–33
Completed4
Retired4
General characteristics
TypeDestroyer
Displacement
  • 1,020 tons (normal)
  • 1,139 tons (full load)
Length305 ft 3 in (93.04 m)
Beam30 ft 4 in (9.25 m)
Draft9 ft 3 in (2.82 m)
Installed power
Propulsion2 × screws
Speed29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph) (design)
Capacity312 tons oil (fuel)
Complement5 officers, 93 enlisted
Armament

Four destroyers in the United States Navy comprised the Cassin class. All served as convoy escorts during World War I. The Cassins were the first of five "second-generation" 1000-ton four-stack destroyer classes that were front-line ships of the Navy until the 1930s. They were known as "thousand tonners" for their normal displacement, while the previous classes were nicknamed "flivvers" for their small size, after the Model T Ford.[1]

They were the first to carry the new 4-inch (102 mm)/50 caliber guns. The number of torpedo tubes was increased from the six carried by the Paulding class to eight. The additional armament significantly increased their tonnage to over 1,000 tons and decreased their speed to less than 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph), despite an increase from 12,000 shaft horsepower (8,900 kW) to 16,000 shp (12,000 kW).[2]

The Aylwin class was built concurrently, and those four ships are often considered to be Cassins. Both classes were ordered in fiscal year 1912.[2][3][4]

The class performed convoy escort missions in the Atlantic in World War I. Hulls 43–45 served in the United States Coast Guard as part of the Rum Patrol in 1924–31. All were scrapped 1934–35 to comply with the London Naval Treaty.[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference 1000tondh was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Register1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Gardiner and Gray, pp. 122–125
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Friedman1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).