Sims Class Destroyer Summary

The 12 ships of the Sims class destroyers were commissioned in 1939 and 1940 and the last destroyers delivered to the US Navy prior to WW2. The first ship of the class to be delivered in early 1939 was found to be 150 tons overweight and dangerously top-heavy due to insufficient metacentric height so the class underwent a redesign.

The class served extensively in World War II and saw extensive combat. Five of the 12 ships were lost, four in the Pacific and one and one in the Mediterranian. The class served on Neutrality Patrols in the Atlantic in 1940-41. All but 3 ships of the class was transferred to the Pacific shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The class often served screens for aircraft carriers and two were sunk as a direct result of this duty by the same torpedo spreads that killed their carriers - Hammann escorting USS Yorktown in the Battle of Midway and O'Brien escorting USS Wasp on 15 September 1942.

After the war, the four seaworthy ships were used as targets during the 1946 Operation Crossroads atomic tests at Bikini Atoll. One was sunk by the first blast, while the other three were sunk as targets two years later after serving as experimental platforms.

Ships of Class:

• Sims DD-409 - Sunk by Japanese aircraft in the Battle of the Coral Sea, 7 May 1942 (14 survivors)
• Hughes DD-410 - Damaged during Operation Crossroads atomic tests at Bikini Atoll, 1946. Sunk as target, 1948.
• Anderson DD-411 - Sunk during Operation Crossroads atomic tests at Bikini Atoll, 1946
• Hammann DD-412 - Sunk by Japanese submarine I-168 during the Battle of Midway 
• Mustin DD-413 - Damaged during Operation Crossroads atomic tests at Bikini Atoll, July 1946. Scuttled off Kwajalein, 1948.
• Russell DD-414  
• O'Brien DD-415 - Torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-19 in 1942. Sank 19 October 1942 after departing Suva, Fiji while en route to Pearl Harbor for repairs.
• Walke DD-416 - Sunk in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 1942
• Morris DD-417 
• Roe DD-418
• Wainwright DD-419 - Damaged in the Operation Crossroads atomic tests at Bikini Atoll, 1946. Sunk as target, 1948.
• Buck DD-420 - Sunk by U-616 off Salerno, Italy, 1943

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