The ''Aylwin'' class was a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

of four destroyers in the

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; all served as convoy escorts during

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. The ''Aylwin''s were the second of five "second-generation" 1000-ton four-stack destroyer classes that were front-line ships of the Navy until the 1920s. They were known as "thousand tonners". All were scrapped in 1935 to comply with the London Naval Treaty.Gardiner and Gray, p. 122 All four ships were built by

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.Bauer and Roberts, p. 170 These ships were built concurrently with the and in some references are considered to be in that class. In design and armament they were essentially repeats of the ''Cassin'' class.

Design

Unlike the other "thousand tonner" classes, the ''Aylwin''s were not a significant improvement on the previous class.

Armament

They retained the ''Cassin''s' armament of four /50 caliber Mark 9 guns and eight 18-inch (450 mm)

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s in twin broadside mounts. Compared with the previous of the "flivver" type, the increased gun armament reflected the increasing size of foreign destroyers they might have to fight. The broadside (two twin mounts each side) torpedo armament reflected the

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's desire to have some torpedoes remaining after firing a broadside.Friedman, pp. 28–29 The class was probably equipped with one or two depth charge racks each for anti-submarine convoy escort missions in

.Friedman, p. 68 ''Benham'' was equipped with four twin 4-inch mounts in 1917, but these were replaced with single mounts before she deployed overseas. By 1929 all except ''Parker'' had a /23 caliber anti-aircraft gun added.

Engineering

The ships were equipped with four

White-Forster boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, a ...

s supplying steam to two

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driving two shafts for as designed; all of the class exceeded this on trials.

Compound steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

s could be clutched to the shafts for economical medium-speed cruising. ''Aylwin'' achieved on trials at ; this was typical for the others of the class. Normal fuel oil capacity was 307 tons.

Ships in class

References

Bibliography

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External links

Tin Can Sailors @ Destroyers.org - ''Aylwin''-class destroyerDestroyerHistory.org ''Aylwin'' class pageDestroyerHistory.org Thousand Tonner page
{{WWI US ships Destroyer classes