The ''Charles F. Adams'' class is a

ship class A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, is a nuclear aircraft carrier (ship type) of the (ship class). In the course ...

of 29

guided-missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers who have a prim ...

s ( DDG) built between 1958 and 1967. Twenty-three were built for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, three for the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

, and three for the West German ''

Bundesmarine The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

''. The design of these ships (known as project SCB 155) was based on that of s, but the ''Charles F. Adams'' class were the first class designed to serve as guided-missile destroyers.The was built at roughly the same time, but they were classified as frigates until 1975. of length was added to the center of the design of the ''Forrest Sherman'' class to carry the

ASROC The RUR-5 ASROC (for "Anti-Submarine Rocket") is an all-weather, all sea-conditions anti-submarine missile system. Developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s, it was deployed in the 1960s, updated in the 1990s, and eventually installed ...

launcher. The ''Charles F. Adams''-class were the last

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

-powered destroyers built for the U.S. Navy. Starting with the succeeding ''Spruance-class'', all U.S. Navy destroyers have been powered by

gas turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directi ...

s. Some of the U.S. ''Charles F. Adams'' class served during the blockade of Cuba in 1962 and during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

; those of the

served during the

and

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

New threat update program and decommissioning

Although designed with cutting-edge technology for the 1950s, by the mid-1970s it was clear to the Navy that the ''Charles F. Adams''-class destroyers were not prepared to deal with modern air attacks and

guided missiles In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket i ...

. To reduce this vulnerability, the U.S. Navy began the

New Threat Upgrade New Threat Upgrade (NTU) was a United States Navy program to improve and modernize the capability of existing cruisers and destroyers equipped with Terrier and Tartar anti-aircraft systems, keeping them in service longer. The Program was selec ...

(NTU) program. This consisted of a number of sensor, weapons and communications upgrades that were intended to extend the service lives of the ships. Under the NTU, these destroyers received improved

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

capability through the installation of the AN/SLQ-32(V)2 EW Suite. The upgraded combat system would include the MK86 Gun Fire Control System with

AN/SPQ-9 AN/SPQ-9A, (sometimes pronounced as "spook nine"), is a United States Navy multi-purpose surface search and fire control radar used with the Mk-86 gun fire-control system (MK86 GFCS). It is a two dimensional surface-search radar, meaning it provid ...

radar, the Hughes AN/SPS-52C

3D radar 3-D, 3D, or 3d may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Relating to three-dimensionality * Three-dimensional space ** 3D computer graphics, computer graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data ** 3D film, a ...

, the

AN/SPG-51 The AN/SPG-51 is an American tracking / illumination fire-control radar for RIM-24 Tartar and RIM-66 Standard missiles. It is used for target tracking and Surface-to-air missile guidance on s, s, and s. The Italian Navy used it aboard their ''Au ...

C (Digital) Fire Control Radars, and the

Naval Tactical Data System Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS) was a computerized information processing system developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s and first deployed in the early 1960s for use in combat ships. It took reports from multiple sensors on different sh ...

(NTDS). These ships were also planned to have the ability to launch several ''Harpoon'' anti-ship missiles, which were to be installed in their MK-11 or MK-13 Tartar missile launcher. During the 1980s, the

Reagan Administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over D ...

chose to accelerate production of the

guided-missile cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

s and build the guided-missile destroyers, both classes with the

Aegis Combat System The Aegis Combat System is an American integrated naval weapons system developed by the Missile and Surface Radar Division of RCA, and it is now produced by Lockheed Martin. Initially used by the United States Navy, Aegis is now used also by t ...

that was considered more effective than NTU-upgraded ships, to gradually replace all existing destroyer and cruiser classes (especially the expensive nuclear-powered cruisers). The result of this was that only three of ''Charles F. Adams''-class destroyers, , , and received the full upgrade. Other ships, of the class, such as ''Charles F. Adams'', received only partial upgrades, which included the AN/SLQ-32 and Harpoon Missile upgrades, that were intended to extend their service lives until the ''Arleigh Burke'' class could reach operational capability. The United States Navy decommissioned its last ''Charles F. Adams'' destroyer, ''Goldsborough'', on 29 April 1993. The Australian and German navies decommissioned their last ships of this class by 2003. Four ships of this class were transferred to the

Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of vari ...

in 1992, but those have also been decommissioned. was originally planned to open as a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

sometime in 2018, but those plans were put on hold and the ship was sent to be scrapped in 2020. The was made into a museum ship, but all of the other destroyers in the class have been sunk as targets, sunk for diving wrecks or sold for scrap.

Ships in class

Hellenic Navy

Four destroyers were transferred to the

; * (formerly USS ''Semmes'') * (formerly USS ''Waddell'') * (formerly USS ''Joseph Strauss'') * (formerly USS ''Berkeley'')

''Lütjens'' class

The was a modification of the ''Charles F. Adams'' class for the ''

'' (the Navy of

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

). It differed from the ''Charles F. Adams'' class in the layout of the crew accommodations, the location of the bow sonar, a second large aerial mast and different funnels. * (scrapped) * (Museum ship) * (scrapped)

''Perth'' class

The

had three ''Charles F. Adams''-class units constructed to their own specifications (these ships were designated the ). Although broadly similar to the US Navy's vessels, the Australian ships were fitted with the Ikara system instead of the

that was fitted to the American units. The three ships were: * (sunk as a dive wreck) * (sunk as a dive wreck) * (sunk as a dive wreck)

Notes

References

External links

''Mölders'' (D 186), Deutsches Marine Museum, Wilhelmshaven, Germany

HMAS ''Perth'' (DDG-38), Artificial Dive Reef, Albany Australia

USS ''Charles F. Adams'' (DDG-2), Jacksonville Historic Naval Ship Association, Jacksonville Florida

''Charles F. Adams''-class Veterans Association

''Charles F. Adams''-class guided missile destroyers
a
Destroyer History Foundation
{{Charles F. Adams class destroyer Destroyer classes