Destroyer leader (DL) was the United States Navy's designation for large destroyers from 9 February 1951 through the early years of the Cold War. United States ships with hull classification symbol DL were officially frigates from 1 January 1955Blackman, p.434 until 1975. The smaller destroyer leaders were reclassified as destroyers and the larger as cruisers by the United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification so destroyer escorts could be reclassified as frigates (FF) in conformance with international usage of the term.

Background By the end of World War I the destroyers intended to screen formations of battleships had evolved to a displacement of approximately 1,100 tons armed with four guns and six or more torpedoes.Lenton & Colledge, pp. 79–94 Italy had built three esploratori (scout cruisers) approximately 70% larger than contemporary destroyers. The Washington Naval Treaty encouraged the United Kingdom's satisfaction with its traditional fleet of s and the United States' contentment with the similar and s, while the signatories with smaller fleets explored alternative warship configurations between the classical definitions of destroyer and cruiser. Italy launched three more esploratoriKafka & Pepperburg, p. 784 and France responded with six Chacal-class contre-torpilleur super destroyers. Japan launched the minimum light cruiser followed by the Fubuki-class with endurance to escort the Kido Butai mobile force of aircraft carriers over the wide reaches of the Pacific.Watts, pp. 126–143

Germany built similarly enlarged Zerstörer when it commenced naval rearmament.Lenton, (1976) p. 67 With the exception of the and a few flotilla leaders, most British and American destroyers built between the world wars were smaller than contemporary Axis destroyers; but as the battleships for which the smaller destroyers had been designed as escorts faded into restricted roles in the combat experience of World War II, United States destroyer displacement increased to 2100 tons, 2200 tons, and 2400 tons to support Fast Carrier Task Force operations.Silverstone, pp. 100–103

Description As the United States Navy thinned its wartime fleet following World War II, the smaller destroyers were discarded until only those over 2,000 tons remained in active service. Naval architects had a few years to evaluate captured ships and combat experience before there was any need for more warships. With large inventories of destroyers and cruisers, new surface warship designs explored placing high-efficiency boilers in hulls of intermediate size. The first destroyer leader was authorized in 1948 and laid down in 1949 as an anti-submarine hunter-killer cruiser based on the anti-aircraft cruiser, themselves originally conceived as destroyer leaders. She was designated EDL-1 while engaged in experimental work with new sensors and weapons systems including SQS-23 sonar, Weapon Alpha, RUR-5 ASROC and automatic 3 inch/70 Mark 26 guns. She served entirely in the Atlantic except for a single deployment to the Indian Ocean and cruise around the world in 1968 shortly before she was retired from active service. A sister ship was authorized, but not completed after experience with the prototype did not justify repetition of the design.

The next design was for an unarmored cruiser of displacement similar to Italian s to carry the new 5 inch/54 caliber Mark 42 gun. Each of the four ships received somewhat different experimental propulsion machinery powered by (8.3 MPa) Combustion Engineering forced-circulation boilers in DL-2 and DL-3; and Foster Wheeler boilers in DL-4 and DL-5. DL-2 and DL-3 had General Electric turbines while DL-4 and DL-5 had Westinghouse turbines. All four ships began operations in the Atlantic. DL-3 and DL-5 were transferred to the Pacific in 1956. DL-3 made routine deployments to the western Pacific for as long as she remained in commission, but DL-5 was transferred back to the Atlantic in 1963 after making a few western Pacific deployments. DL-2 and DL-4 made routine deployments to the Mediterranean Sea. The ships were built with AN/SPS-6 air search radar, AN/SPS-8 height finding radar, AN/QHBa scanning sonar and AN/SQG-1 attack sonar. During their first refit in the mid-1950s the AN/SQG-1 and AN/QHBa were replaced by AN/SQS-4 sonar and the secondary open 3 inch/50 caliber guns were replaced by 3 inch/70 Mark 26 guns. Later refits removed the unsatisfactory 3 inch/70 guns and Weapon Alpha.

After experimental flight operations with the Bell HUL-1 and Kaman HTK-1 aboard Mitscher in 1957, helicopter decks and hangars for the Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH were installed where the aft 3-inch guns had been. DL-2 and DL-3 underwent major overhaul at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard beginning in 1966 including new Foster Wheeler boilers, AN/SQS-23 sonar, AN/SPS-37 air search radar, AN/SPS-48 height finding radar, and the Tartar Guided Missile Fire Control System for RIM-24 Tartar missiles. DL-4 and DL-5 had earlier received a new 70-foot bow section mounting the AN/SQS-26 sonar and spent the remainder of their service lives testing these prototypes until retirement, when their sisters emerged from overhaul at Philadelphia in 1968 for another decade of service as guided missile destroyers.Blackman, pp. 433 & 435

A third class of destroyer leaders was designed after observing the performance of propulsion and weapons systems tested aboard the Mitscher class. The first three ships were ordered with three 5 inch/54 caliber guns shortly after the name change to frigates. The next three were ordered with two 5 inch/54 guns forward, and a RIM-2 Terrier missile system aft, marking the transition to guided missile frigates (hull classification symbol DLG), intended to defend aircraft carriers against anti-ship cruise missiles. All ten ships were completed with a single 5 inch/54 gun forward, an ASROC launcher where the B gun would have been, and the missile system aft; but the class was variously named Coontz for the first ship to be ordered with a missile system, or for the lowest numbered ship to be completed in that configuration. ASROC and sonar gave the guided missile frigates an anti-submarine capability that most of the World War II cruiser conversions lacked. All were reclassified as guided missile destroyers in 1975.Blackman, p. 432

Similar ship classes + Comparison of ships with similar missions Name Nation Date (tons) Speed (knots) Torpedoes Guns 191731,811354 8 × guns Watts, p.77 192312,890354 6 × guns 192431,743344 8 × guns le Masson, pp.110&111 192662,126356 5 × guns Watts, p.126 1927202,090349 6 × 12.7 cm/50 Type 3 naval gun le Masson, pp.112&113 1929182,441357 5 × Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1927 Kafka & Pepperburg, p.780 1929121,900386 6 × guns Regele Ferdinand classEarl Thomas Brassey, Brassey's Annual: The Armed Forces Year-book, Praeger Publishers, 1938, p. 264 193021,785356 5 × guns Dubrovnik 193111,910406 4 × guns Watts, p.133 193142,090389 6 × 12.7 cm/50 Type 3 naval gun 193262,180404 5 × 130 mm/50 B13 Pattern 1936 Silverstone, p.114 193581,850378 8 × 5"/38 caliber gun le Masson, p.116 193662,569379 5 × Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1929 Watts, p.141 1936101,961358 6 × 12.7 cm/50 Type 3 naval gun Lenton & Colledge, p.107 1936271,870364 8 × 4.7-inch QF Mark XII gun Zerstörer 1934Taylor, p.43 1937162,200388 5 × 12.7 cm SK C/34 naval guns Silverstone, p.118 193751,8503712 8 × 5"/38 caliber gun 193712,89343.59 6 × B-2LM Watts, p.143 1938182,033358 6 × 12.7 cm/50 Type 3 naval gun Lenton, (1968) p.13 193823,787326 6 × guns Zerstörer 1936 193862,400388 5 × 12.7 cm SK C/34 naval guns le Masson, pp.118&119 193922,9943910 8 × Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1929 Lenton & Colledge, p.109 1939161,920368 6 × 4.7-inch QF Mark XII gun Zerstörer 1936ATaylor, p.41 1940152,600388 4 × 15 cm TbtsK C/36 naval guns Watts, p.148 1941202,077358 6 × 12.7 cm/50 Type 3 naval gun Lenton, (1968) p.24 194121,922368 5 × guns Watts, p.152 1942122,701334 8 × 10 cm/65 Type 98 naval gun Watts, p.153 194212,5673915 6 × 12.7 cm/50 Type 3 naval gun Silverstone, p.135 19421752,0503710 5 × 5"/38 caliber gun Kafka & Pepperburg, p.768 194243,750368 8 × guns Silverstone, p.146 1943582,2003610 6 × 5"/38 caliber gun Silverstone, p.148 1944982,4253510 6 × 5"/38 caliber gun Lenton & Colledge, p.121 1944262,3153510 4 × QF 4.5-inch Mk III naval gun DL-1 195315,600324 + Mk 32 8 × 3"/70 Mark 26 gun DL-2 class 195343,675354 + Mk 32 2 × 5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun DL-6 class 1960104,70034Mk 32 1 × 5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun

Evolution into guided missile cruisers Two additional DLG classes and two similar nuclear-powered ships (DLGN) were completed by 1975 for a total of twenty additional guided missile frigates. These significantly larger ships were reclassified as guided missile cruisers (CG/CGN) in 1975.Bauer and Roberts, pp. 213–217 By 1995 the former guided missile frigates were replaced by the s and s.Gardiner and Chumbley, pp. 580–585

See also Esploratori Flotilla leader Scout cruiser Guided missile frigate Guided missile destroyer Guided missile cruiser List of destroyers of the Second World War List of United States Navy destroyer leaders

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