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The ''Allen M. Sumner'' class was a group of 58 destroyers built by the United States during World War II. Another twelve ships were completed as destroyer minelayers. Often referred to as simply the ''Sumner'' class, this class was characterized by their twin 5-inch/38 caliber gun mounts, dual rudders, additional anti-aircraft weapons, and many other advancements over the previous . The ''Allen M. Sumner'' design was extended amidships to become the , which was produced in larger numbers. Completed in 1943–45, four were lost in the war and one was damaged so badly it was scrapped, but the surviving ships served in the US Navy into the 1970s. After being retired from the US fleet, 29 of them were sold to other navies, where they served many more years. Two still exist as museum ships, one in South Carolina, and one in Taiwan. ==Description== The first ship was laid down in May 1943, while the last was launched in April 1945. In that time the United States produced 58 ''Allen M. Sumner''-class destroyers. The ''Allen M. Sumner'' class was an improvement of the previous , which were built from 1941 until 1944. In addition to three twin 5-inch/38 caliber gun mounts replacing the ''Fletcher''s' five single mounts, ''Sumner''s had twin rudders, giving them better maneuverability for ASW work when compared to ''Fletcher''s. The 5-inch guns were guided by a Mark 37 Gun Fire Control System with a Mark 25 fire control radar linked by a Mark 1A Fire Control Computer stabilized by a Mark 6 8,500 rpm gyro. This fire control system provided effective long-range anti-aircraft (AA) or anti-surface fire. The ''Allen M. Sumner''s also had much more short-range anti-aircraft armament than the ''Fletcher''s, with 12 40 mm guns and 11 20 mm guns compared with 8 40 mm and 7 20 mm for a typical late-war upgraded ''Fletcher''. The initial design retained the ''Fletcher''s' heavy torpedo armament of 10 tubes in two quintuple mounts, firing the Mark 15 torpedo. As the threat from ''kamikaze'' aircraft mounted in 1945, and with few remaining Japanese warships to use torpedoes on, most of the class had the aft quintuple 21-inch torpedo tube mount replaced by an additional 40 mm quadruple mount for 16 total 40 mm guns.〔."(The ''Sumner'' Class As Built ) Retrieved 25 August 2009."〕〔Friedman, Norman "US Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History (Revised Edition)", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis:2004, ISBN 1-55750-442-3.〕 The ''Allen M. Sumner''s achieved a 20% increase in 5-inch gun armament and almost a 50% increase in light AA armament on a hull the same length as a ''Fletcher'', only wider, and about 15 inches (38 cm) deeper in draft. The increase in standard displacement was only 150 tons, about 7.5%. Thus, the ''Allen M. Sumner'' class was a significant improvement in combat power at a small increase in cost. See also destroyer minelayer (DM), twelve of which were built on hulls originally intended as ''Allen M. Sumner''s. s were of the same design, modified with a midship extension to carry more fuel to extend the ships' range. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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