Type 45 destroyer

Guided-missile destroyer of the Arleigh Burke-class of warship - USS Cole

Design of the USS Cole is consistent with the Arleigh Burke-class of warships. She sports a sharp, high-angled bow with her major superstructure covering amidships and a flight deck positioned along her stern. The 5-inch main gun is mounted between the bow and the superstructure with the first of two VLS missile cell collections located between this turret and the superstructure. The second VLS emplacement is set just forward of the flight deck to the rear of the design. The superstructure is identifiable by its large slab, three-sided forward face and maintains the bridge and major sensors, equipment and communications arrays. The mainmast caps the superstructure and slopes towards the stern.

The USS Cole is perhaps best known for the Al-Qaeda attack that left 17 US sailors dead back on October 12th, 2000. She represents one of the sixty-two total guided-missile destroyers making up the Arleigh Burke-class of warship. She further makes up one of the twenty-one ships as part of the Arleigh Burke "Flight I-Class" (these featuring the 5"/54 turreted main gun). These were followed into service by the Flight II and Flight IIA ships making up the other seven-plus-thirty-four vessels in the Arleigh Burke-class.

Her suite of sensors and processing systems include the AN/SPY-1D radar, the AN/SPS-67(V)2 Surface Search Radar, the AN/SPS-73(V)12 Surface Search Radar, the AN/SQS-53C sonar array, the AN/SQR-19 tactical towed sonar array and the AN/SQQ-28 LAMPS III shipboard system. Her countermeasures suite is made up of the AN/SLQ-32(V)2 electronic warfare system, the AN/SLQ-25 Nixie torpedo countermeasures, the MK 36 MOD 12 decoy launching system and the AN/SLQ-39 CHAFF bouys. As part of the Aegis defense system, the USS Cole can use her powerful radar and tracking software to maintain an eye on up to 100 targets at once.

Power to the Cole is supplied by four large General Electric LM2500-30 series gasoline-fueled turbines feeding two shafts a combined 100,000 shaft horsepower. Her top speed is listed at just over 30 knots with a range of 4,400 nautical miles at 20 knots. Her crew complement is made up of 210 enlisted personnel along with 38 Chief Petty Officers and 33 Officers. The Cole maintains a running length of 505 feet with a beam of 66 feet and a draught of 31 feet. Displacement is approximately 6,794 tons light and 8,885 tons full.

As a gasoline-powered vessel, the Cole makes use of twin funnel structures each showcasing stealth-like sharp angles. Each funnel assembly is identified by their black funnel stack exhaust ports that are clearly visible when in profile, protruding ever so slightly. One of the two 20mm Vulcan Phalanx systems sit just ahead and below the bridge while another sits aft overlooking the flight deck and stern VSL missile cells.

The Cole can make room for up to one Sikorsky-class SH-60 Sea Hawk helicopter along a stern deck helipad.

Armament consists of two individual missile cell collections: the 1 x 29 and 1 x 61 cell Mk 41 vertical launch systems are compatible with RIM-156 SM-2, BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise or RUM-139 VL-ASROC missiles. This potent firepower is augmented by 2 x 25mm chain guns, the aforementioned Mark 45 5/54 inch cannon, 2 x 20mm Phalanx CIWS (Close-In Weapon System) for anti-aircraft/anti-missile defense and up to 4 x 12.7mm heavy machine guns for close-in defense and boarding. The Cole can make use of 2 x Mk 32 triple torpedo launch tubes fitted aft of amidships along the port and starboard sides to combat enemy surface vessels. At any one time, the Cole has access to some 100 missiles of varying types for any given situation at hand. With all this in tow, she makes up the strong arm of the United States Navy on the high seas.


The USS Cole was constructed by Ingalls Shipbuilding (now part of Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding) of Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was ordered on January 16th, 1991 and laid down on February 28th, 1994. She was launched on February 10th in 1995 and delivered to the United States Navy on March 11th, 1996. Official commissioning occurred on June 8th, 1996. In 2013, the USS Cole is expected to receive upgraded missile capability to the RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) series as part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, a sort of mobile sea-borne protection net against enemy ballistic missiles with direction provided by the US DoD's Missile Defense Agency.

The USS Elliot was one of the 31 Spruance-class destroyers with the United States Navy.

One of her final support operations involved action in Operation Enduring Freedom. After some 30-plus years of active service, the vessel was relegated to target duty and was sunk off of the coast of Australia in joint operation exercises to which she would become an artificial reef for the local environment. A conventional naval vessel operated by up to 334 personnel, the USS Elliot set out in 1977, was later fitted with her Sea Sparrow missile capabilities, and then reported for service in 1978. Her voyages took her primarily around the Pacific Ocean serving in fleet and deployed multiple times.

Power was derived from her four General Electric GE LM2500 gas turbines  feeding twin shafts at 80,000 shaft horsepower providing up to 32 knots.  Armament for the type initially revolved around her 2 x 5" Mark 45  dual-purpose main guns (one forward and one aft). This would shortly be  supplemented by the addition of her NATO Sea Sparrow missile launchers.  Additional offensive firepower was supplied by 2 x 324mm torpedo  launchers, Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers and Phalanx CIWS systems,  the latter around her primary superstructure.

Her profile was characterized by her twin main masts amidships. A helicopter pad at near-stern served the 2 x Sikorsky-type SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters.

The USS Elliot was ordered in 1971, laid down in 1973 and launched in 1974, being officially commissioned in 1977. She was named after Lieutenant Commander Arthur Elliot II whom lost his life while serving in the United States Navy as a commander in the Patrol Boat River Squadron 57 in the Vietnam War.

A typical carrier battlegroup consists of an aircraft carrier, a supply ship and a destroyer (among others)

Spruance Class Destroyers

The answer was the Spruance class and thirty-one destroyers were built for the primary mission of anti-submarine warfare, that complimented the attack carrier forces. The Spruance class were more than twice as large as a World War II destroyer and as large as a World War II cruiser. When launched in 1973 Spruance lack of guns as compared to previous destroyers drew concern and criticism. On Spruance’s deck were two 5 inch guns one forward and one aft, the Gearing class had six 5 inch guns, 12 x 40 mm anti-aircraft guns and 11 x 20 mm anti-aircraft guns. At first glance the comparison to the deck armament and the small amount of radar arrays as compared to the Soviet destroyers seemed to make the Spruance less capable. At a closer look the large amount of 127 mm ammunition storage below decks for the two 5 inch guns made her as viable and the smaller radar mast was superior to her Russian counterparts. Also was one 8 cell ASROC missile launcher carrying an acoustic homing torpedo, a nuclear depth bomb (NDB) that could be directed towards submarines and 8 cell Mark 29 Launcher for NATO Sea Sparrow SAM for aircraft suppression.

By 1965 the United States Navy was ready to choose a new destroyer to replace the Gearing and Sumner class destroyers. Both classes were WW2 designs and had been upgraded and modified over their 30 year life span.

Spruance was the first gas turbine powered ship in the fleet. When she had completed receiving fuel or supplies at sea she would pull away at flank speed while she unfurled a large flag that said, “Beware Jet Blast” while playing the theme music from Star Wars.

Spruance made a brief yard stop in 1983, when she received the CIWS and TAS Mk 23 radar system. Spruance deployed for a six month period in January 1983 to the Persian Gulf where she received VLS, Towed Array, and the SH 60. She deployed on 26 May 1993 to the Red Sea where she spent over three and a half months to board and search operations in support of United Nations sanctions against Iraq. In July 1994, as part of Operation Restore Democracy, she helped to enforce the United Nations embargo of Haiti. However, so many Haitians were needed to be picked up from the sea that Sprunace took nine hundred Haitians onboard for the trip to Guantanamo Naval Station.

Destroyer Escort: USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy

The destroyer escort design from the American Bureau of Shipping was developed by Captain E.L. Cochrane who took the British requirement for a small escort ship and developed the British Destroyer Escort (BDE). The design was accepted and fifty were built with the first six transferred to England. The balance were reclassified as Destroyer Escort (DE) and, on January 25th, 1943, the remaining vessels were assigned to the United States Navy. Out of every five destroyer escorts ultimately launched, four would be shipped to the inventory of the US Navy and one to the ranks of the British Royal Navy. In the long run, the little ship class proved itself quite an effective fighter and were far cheaper to build than full-fledged dedicated destroyers.

The hull of the Roberts was laid down in January of 1944 next to her sister ship, the USS Walter C. Wann. This method of construction was the accepted production schedule at Brown Ship Building, laying two ships side-by-side to utilize production advantages between the available shipwrights, pipefitters and electricians - all working on two ships at the same time. This construction approach ultimately led to the production of some sixty-one Butler-class destroyers by war's end. The "assembly line" mentality also made the American worker famous across the world for their ability to punch out ship-after-ship in support of the global war effort - an effort no other nation could match by 1945.

These destroyer escorts were only 306 feet (93m) from bow-to-stern and her width (or "beam") was 36.8 feet (11.18m). She drew just 9.5 feet (2.87m) of water. "DE 417" displaced at 1,370 tons with war supplies onboard and could make 28.7 knots (33mph) if conditions were "clean". Such speed was possible thanks to her Westinghouse-built geared steam turbines and her two boilers producing 12,000 shaft horsepower and driving twin screws. The vessel was manned with 217 sailors and 11 officers.

To promote such performance came at a price. As such, these small ships were not heavily armored and were generally nicknamed "Tin Cans". Each was allotted only 3/8-inch steel decks and, in heavy seas, DE’s would bob around like corks in a bath tub. Her modest armament was just 2 x 5-inch (127mm) main guns and three torpedoes to counter surface vessels. For air-defense and convoy protection, destroyer escorts were fitted with 4 x 40mm AA guns and up to 10 x 20mm AA guns. The main weapon suite was intended primarily for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) as World War 2-era submarines still needed to rise close to the surface to attack surface vessels themselves. To fulfill the ASW role, 2 x depth charge tracks, 1 x hedgehog and 8 x depth charge projectors were installed.

The Samuel B. Roberts destroyer escort came about in 1941 as a result of the Lend-lease Act that was passed into law by the United States government. The United States had done well to stay out of foreign affairs, especially those in Europe, since the close of World War 1 in 1918. However, as the Nazi scourge had enveloped Poland and the Low Countries in the late 1930s and now began pressing against the United Kingdom, this forced the hand of the American government to become "indirectly" involved. With the Lend-Lease Act in place, the United States could now supply material goods to those entities it deemed as allies and would ultimately include the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union receiving large supplies of weapons. As such, the British Royal Navy took deliveries of warships from the United States to help counter the German U-Boat submarine presence bent on sinking convoy ships traversing from the United States to England and from England to Arctic ports.

The "Sammy B" was christened in posthumous honor of naval reservist Samuel Booker Roberts Jr. killed on Guadalcanal on September 28th, 1942. At the time of his death, Roberts was commanding a landing craft that he motored in to draw enemy attention away from ships picking up US Marines pinned down by a Japanese crossfire. When Mrs. Roberts learned of the naming of the ship after her son, she requested that her youngest son Jack Roberts - who himself had just finished naval basic training - be assigned to the ship. The Navy Department honored the request.

The Roberts was commissioned on March 31st, 1944. After receiving her crew, she left for her shakedown cruise in Bermuda waters until mid-June. Roberts collided with a whale and received damage to her propeller shaft requiring the ship to return to Norfolk for repairs. After repairs, she left for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, via the Panama Canal and arrived on August 10th, 1944. She was assigned to the Third Fleet stationed in Hawaii and trained with the fleet in local waters. She was transferred to the Seventh Fleet and provided ASW protection for convoys steaming between Pearl and Eniwetok, a coral atoll used for staging ships before they were sent to forward battle areas.


The Battle History
On October 12, 1944 Sammy B’s skipper, Bob Copland, was briefed along with many other captains on "Operation King Musketeer II" - the planned invasion of the Philippine Islands. The Roberts was now part of the battleship Task Group 77.2 under the command of Admiral Oldendorf and escort carrier Task group 77.4 commanded by Admiral Sprague. Roberts and the fleet steamed for Leyte under the call sign "Taffy 3".

During the war, no fleet was complete without air power and the Seventh had carrier escorts that were the smallest American aircraft carriers built and, themselves were protected by four of the smallest destroyers like the Roberts as well as two standard destroyers. The eighteen baby "flat tops" were divided into three battle groups of six ships each. The fleet maintained a total of 235 fighter aircraft and 143 torpedo planes. Their mission was to protect the Leyte Gulf invasion fleet. The pilots and sailors were reservists with no combat experience. The carriers were not provided with adequate armor piercing bombs and torpedoes because it was not expected that they would be needed. A heavy responsibility would be given to Taffy 3, the northern most carrier group covering the Leyte invasion.

Based on the battle plan, US Navy Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid felt that Fleet Admiral William Halsey's Third Fleet was on station based on their deployment order and that Task Force 34 (TF 34) guarded San Bernardino. To guard against a Japanese threat from the South, Kinkaid concentrated his battleships mainly to the south of the Leyte beachhead.

The Japanese Center Force, under the command of Admiral Kurita, had been bloodied up by American airmen and sailors up to this point and now consisted of the battleships IJN Yamato, Nagato, Kongo, and Haruna; heavy cruisers Chokai, Haguro, Kumano, Suzuya, Chikuma, Tone; light cruisers Yahagi, and Noshiro; and 11 Kagero and Asashio class destroyers. The battleships and cruiser armor could not be pierced by the American destroyer 5-inch (127 mm) shells. The Japanese capital ships had large caliber guns and IJN Yamato's 18.1 in (460 mm) rifles could lob 2,000lb shells some 25 miles (40 km) away.

On October 24th, Kurita turned his ships east toward Leyte Gulf. On the morning of October 25th Kurita's fleet, led by Yamato, steamed out of the San Bernardino Strait and proceeded south along the coast of Samar to bombard the landing force at Leyte. Shortly after dawn the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Central Force sighted "Taffy 3" made up of her six escort carriers, three destroyers and four small destroyer escorts with Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague commanding. Kurita was sure he had found the carriers of the American 3rd Fleet guarding the landing force. The normal Japanese maneuver at night was to steam in line so now, at dawn, the order was given to change to an air defense formation. While the fleet was changing its formation, Kurita gave the order for the general attack. This released all ships to attack the enemy as each ship'ss captains saw fit. The unorthodox order by Admiral Kurita would lose his tactical control of the upcoming battle.

At 5:45am, two US Navy TBM Avengers bombers and two Grumman Wildcat fighters were launched from the USS St. Lo on a standard anti submarine mission to fan out over the four points of the compass. Some rain squalls were noted and CVE pilots were not instrument-rated so they would stick to the adage of “if the birds don’t fly, neither do we”. Onboard the Roberts, the crew was talking up Oldendorfs battleship victory the previous night over the Japanese Southern Force at Suragio Strait.

Ensign Brooks, flying a TBM from the St. Lo, spotted the Japanese Central Force. The initial thought was that the vessels were part of Admiral Lee’s battleships steaming south. Coming under massive anti-aircraft fire, Brooks took inventory and, at 6:43am, called in the report of Japanese ships with a doubting Admiral Sprague demanding confirmation. If the confirmation proved true, all Sprague could muster was with his heaviest guns were 5-inchers. Nevertheless, Sprague ordered all ships to general quarters.

Captain Copeland, onboard the Roberts, was receiving fire from fifteen miles away and subsequently went on the intercom to address the crew: "A large Japanese force has been contacted and are fifteen miles away consisting of 4 battleships, 8 cruisers and a number of destroyers". "This will be a fight against overwhelming odds of which survival cannot be expected". "We will do what damage we can." - the destroyers knew their job was to sacrifice themselves for the carriers.

Without orders they sortied, closing in against the enemy ships with guns that could sink the destroyers with a single direct hit. Copeland ordered flank speed, knowing speed and torpedoes was a destroyer’s best offensive weapon. Admiral Sprague was heard to order “little fellows, make a torpedo attack”. The targets were therefore left up to the individual destroyer captains as there was no time and too few ships to develop a coordinated attack of consequence. The aircraft of the CVE’s attacked the ships with all they had, even making strafing attacks when all of the bombs were exhausted. The Roberts was closest to the Japanese cruiser line, however, Copeland was the junior commander and protocol was to standby for orders. Regardless, Copeland decided to not wait and proceeded with an attack.

Copeland saw the lead Japanese cruiser and ordered the executive officer, Bob Roberts, to give him course six degrees off of the enemy cruiser's bow. He ordered 20 knots for the torpedo run and told the engine room that, when the "fish" were fired, to make flank speed plus whatever else they could get out of the boilers. As the Roberts closed distance to the cruiser line, her 5-inch gun crews wanted to open fire but they were still 13,000 yards from the target and Copeland did not want to waste the valuable ammunition. At this range, the 5-inch had little "punching power" against cruiser armor so getting closer was a requirement. Additionally, the enemy cruiser had not opened fire against the Roberts for the Roberts provided such a small forward silhouette at distance and the battlefield smoke masked her approach.

The Robert's plan was to launch the three torpedoes at 45 knots when they were 5,000 yards from the cruiser. At that speed, the Japanese ship would have a hard time to avoid the incoming spread of torpedoes. The cruiser IJN Chokais was firing her 8 inch batteries against the American escort carriers behind the Roberts. At 4,000 yards - about 2 miles - the torpedoes of the Roberts were away towards the enemy cruiser. Copeland ordered a hard left rudder and the Roberts strained under the extra boiler power in trying to motor back towards the friendly carrier escorts. A cheer went up when flame was seen on the Japanese cruiser - a direct hit had blown off the Chokais bow. The Roberts continued to attack for another hour, maneuvering close enough to use 600 rounds of the 5-inch guns and her 40mm and 20mm AA guns against the Chokai. Soon before 9:00am, Roberts was hit twice, the resulting damage taking out her aft 5-inch main gun. She continued to fire on the cruiser and managed to set fire to the bridge and knock out turret Number Three. The battleship Kongo turned her 14-inch battery on the Roberts and hit her with three shells. The projectiles opened up a 40-by-10-foot hole along her portside. She went dead in the water and, at 9:35am, the order to abandon ship was given. The Roberts sank at 10:05am with 89 men still onboard. 120 men went into the water with just three life rafts and spent the next 50 hours at sea before they were rescued. On November 27th, 1944 the Roberts was struck from the naval register and awarded 1 Battle Star for her actions.

The battle ended with two American destroyers, a destroyer escort, and an escort carrier sunk by Japanese gunfire and another escort carrier sunk by a kamikaze bomber. Kurita's battleships and the surviving ships of Central Force were stopped from destroying the Leyte force by combined torpedo attacks from American destroyers and aircraft of Taffy 3. Due to the intensity of the defense of the American forces of Taffy 3, Kurita was convinced that he was facing a far superior force and subsequently withdrew from the battle.

After the battle, the USS Samuel B. Roberts was adorned with the tagline "The Destroyer Escort That Fought Like a Battleship”.

German Warship Class Type Destroyer FGS Schleswig-Holstein

The Schleswig-Holstein (D182) a Hamburg class destroyer launched in 1960 and was the first German warship class to be built after World War 2. Post-war ship construction in Germany had been concentrated on commercial vessels for import and export before the arrival of the Schleswig-Holstein. The German builder Stulcken Shipyard was available for the project, however, they had little in the way of experience in building naval-class warships. After bids were received, Stulcken was nonetheless awarded the contract.

Design of the Schleswig-Holstein and her related class was centered around operations in the Baltic Sea.

The German Navy felt the primary requirements needed in their new class warship to be armament and speed - operations in adverse weather was not considered since this destroyer was not expected to operate in the volatile waters of the North Sea.

The German Government needed destroyers to protect the shipping lanes between the Baltic countries, lanes that had seen an noticeable increase in trade traffic.

Stulcken's plans lacked the modern upgrades common to American and British destroyers of the time. In fact, the Schleswig-Holstein resembled something more akin to a World War 2 destroyer design. On the positive side, the lack of incorporating modern components into the Schleswig-Holstein superstructure and weapons suite allowed for a fast-track construction schedule. Stulcken shipyard also built the Cologne-class frigates in the 1960’s and the technical blueprints of both ship types were similar and lacked advanced weaponry.

The German Navy wanted a heavy gun armament so the weight of the steel had to be reduced somewhere on the ship.

Sea keeping was chosen to be reduced by decreasing the height and weight of the steel free boards along the hull. This inevitably short-sighted decision allowed heavy seas to wash onto the decks of the Schleswig-Holstein in rough seas. It became obvious that the Schleswig-Holstein (D182) was a "top-heavy" design and showcased a large noticeable silhouette. Her profile also made her somewhat ineffective in bad weather seas overall.

When her mission finally changed, the Schleswig-Holstein (D182) and her sister ships became the German Navy’s primary naval warship in the North Sea. Their lack of large free boards eventually slowed their sea-going progress and reduced the effectiveness as destroyers in heavy seas.

By the late 1970’s, the Schleswig-Holstein needed a weapons upgrade to counter the anti-ship guided missiles being fielded by aircraft and ships of other countries. At this time, her designation was changed to Type 101A. To counter the anti-ship missile threat, the decision was made to mount two French Exocet anti-ship missile launchers. To accomplish this, room aboard was needed so one of the 100mm gun mounts was removed and the torpedo tubes were welded over. The Exocet revolving missile launchers were positioned aft behind the stack. The outdated Bofors guns were replaced with four of the new L 70 Breda 40mm cannons in twin mountings instead. The radar was upgraded with the French F97 model while the and the operations center was modernized by increasing its size with new sonar stations. The Bridge had larger windows installed with larger side wings.

D182 was finally decommissioned in December 1994 and fell to the scrapman's torch in Spain. The Hamburg-class, as a whole, is no longer in service.