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The ''Clemson'' class was a series of 156 destroyers which served with the United States Navy from after World War I through World War II. The ''Clemson''-class ships were commissioned by the United States Navy from 1919 to 1922, built by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, New York Shipbuilding Corporation, William Cramp and Sons, Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Bath Iron Works, some quite rapidly. The ''Clemson'' class was a minor redesign of the for greater fuel capacity, and was the last pre-World War II class of flush-decker destroyers to be built for the United States. Until the , the ''Clemson''s were the most numerous class of destroyers commissioned in the United States Navy, and were known colloquially as "flush-deckers", "four-stackers", or "four-pipers." ==Design evolution== As finally built, the ''Clemson'' class would be a fairly straightforward expansion of the ''Wickes''-class destroyers. While the ''Wickes'' class had given good service there was a desire to build a class more tailored towards the anti-submarine role, and as such several design studies were completed, mainly about increasing the ships' range. These designs included a reduction in speed to between by eliminating two boilers, freeing up displacement for depth charges and more fuel. This proposal foreshadowed the destroyer escorts of World War II.〔Friedman, pp. 42–44〕 Upgrading the gun armament from 4 inch (102 mm) to 5 inch (127 mm) guns was also considered, but only five ships (DD-231 to DD-235) were armed with 5-inch guns. In addition, the tapered stern of the ''Wickes''-class destroyers resulted in a large turning radius and a correction to this defect was also sought, although this was not corrected in the final design. In the end the General Board decided the speed be retained so as to allow the ''Clemson'' class to be used as a fleet escort. The pressing need for destroyers overruled any change that would slow production compared to the proceeding ''Wickes'' class. Wing tanks for fuel oil were installed on either side of the ships to increase the operational range.〔Friedman, p. 44〕 This design choice meant the fuel oil would be stored above the waterline and create additional vulnerability, but the Navy felt a range was worth the risk.〔 Additional improvements included provisions for 5 inch guns to be installed at a later date, an enlarged rudder to help reduce the turn radius, and an additional 3 inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft gun on the after deck-house.〔Friedman, pp. 44–45〕 The class resulted from a General Board recommendation for further destroyers to combat the submarine threat, culminating in a total of 267 ''Wickes''- and ''Clemson''-class destroyers completed. However, the design of the ships remained optimized for operation with the battleship fleet.〔Friedman, p. 40〕 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「Clemson-class destroyer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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