The ''Robert H. Smith'' class of destroyer minelayers was built by the United States during World War II. The class was named for naval officer Robert H. Smith. These vessels were all originally laid down as s and converted during construction in 1944. In that time the United States produced twelve ''Robert H. Smith''-class destroyer minelayers. Their original hull numbers were DD-735-40, 749-51, and 771-73. None of the ''Robert H. Smith''-class vessels ever laid a

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

in wartime, though they were frequently employed in minesweeping. Minelayers did not carry torpedo tubes. Otherwise they were used interchangeably with other destroyer types. As radar pickets at Okinawa, ''Aaron Ward'', ''Lindsey'', and ''J. William Ditter'' were damaged by '' kamikazes'', and ''Shea'' by a Baka bomb.Silverstone, p. 212 Five of the class served actively in the 1950s, but all survivors were

mothballed Mothballing may refer to: * Aircraft boneyard * Mothball Mothballs are small balls of chemical pesticide and deodorant, sometimes used when storing clothing and other materials susceptible to damage from mold or moth larvae (especially clothe ...

by the end of the decade and were disposed of in the 1970s. None of this class received

FRAM Fram may refer to: Ships * ''Fram'' (ship), an arctic exploration vessel from Norway * MS ''Fram'', expedition cruise ship owned by Hurtigruten Group Places and geography * Fram, Paraguay, a town in Itapúa, Paraguay * Fram Formation, a se ...

conversions.

Ships in class

References

Sources

* Friedman, Norman "US Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History (Revised Edition)", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis:2004, . * Gardiner, Robert and Chesneau, Roger, ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946'', Conway Maritime Press, 1980. . * Silverstone, Paul H., ''U.S. Warships of World War II'' (Ian Allan, 1965),

External links

Robert H. Smith-class destroyer minelayers in World War II

{{US Navy navbox Destroyer classes