O'Brien-class destroyer

The O'Brien class of <a href="/facts/Destroyer/bkYL7bI8">destroyers</a> was a <a href="/facts/Ship_class/mmmaWnbe">class</a> of six ships designed by and built for the <a href="/facts/United_States_Navy/xYK0fUou">United States Navy</a> shortly before the United States entered <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a>. The O'Brien class was the third of five classes of destroyers that were known as the "thousand tonners", because they were the first U.S. destroyers over 1,000 <a href="/facts/Long_ton/5ajqnrGq">long tons</a> (1,016 <a href="/facts/Tonne/gMymLmWv">t</a>) <a href="/facts/Displacement_(ship)/19jbfNuM">displacement</a>.
The design of what became the O'Brien class was the result of discussions between the <a href="/facts/General_Board_of_the_United_States_Navy/mg9q0QDC">General Board of the United States Navy</a> and the U.S. Navy's <a href="/facts/Bureau_of_Ordnance/uj03ovxt">Bureau of Ordnance</a>. What resulted was a design that was an incremental development of the <a href="/facts/Aylwin-class_destroyer/FP9KsTbr">Aylwin class</a>, which itself was similar to the first of the thousand tonners, the <a href="/facts/Cassin-class_destroyer/gfTSjfqe">Cassin class</a> (which displaced about a third more than the preceding <a href="/facts/Paulding-class_destroyer/fISr2gbg">Paulding class</a>). The key difference in the O'Brien class was the increase in <a href="/facts/Torpedo/RLLPpktk">torpedo</a> size, going up to 21 inches (533 mm) from the preceding classes' 18-inch (457 mm) torpedoes.
The ships had a median displacement of 1,050 long tons (1,070 t), were just over 305 feet (93 m) in length, and had a <a href="/facts/Beam_(nautical)/kG7egDLm">beam</a> of about 31 feet (9.4 m). All of the ships had two direct-drive <a href="/facts/Steam_turbine/scacVXsB">steam turbines</a> and a combination of other engines for cruising at speeds less than 15 <a href="/facts/Knot_(unit)/Sho0TF2y">knots</a> (28 km/h). All of the ships were designed for a maximum speed of 29 knots (54 km/h). As built, they were armed with four 4-inch (102 mm) guns and had four twin <a href="/facts/American_21-inch_torpedo/QuJy0I3t">21-inch</a> <a href="/facts/Torpedo_tube/D0o8sNR1">torpedo tubes</a> with a load of eight torpedoes, but all were later equipped with <a href="/facts/Depth_charge/bLMx1yF9">depth charges</a>. The ships were built by four private American shipyards—<a href="/facts/Bath_Iron_Works/09pbkCvX">Bath Iron Works</a>, <a href="/facts/Fore_River_Shipbuilding_Company/BESIs6zh">Fore River Shipbuilding Company</a>, <a href="/facts/New_York_Shipbuilding_Corporation/w9KlEbyR">New York Shipbuilding Corporation</a>, and <a href="/facts/William_Cramp_%2526_Sons/f6XErPPM">William Cramp & Sons</a>—and were <a href="/facts/Keel_laying/0GjIvoG1">laid down</a> between September and November 1913; <a href="/facts/Launch_(ship)/kFSJFllx">launched</a> between April 1914 and February 1915; and <a href="/facts/Commission_(ship)/aPxGm7yB">commissioned</a> into the U.S. Navy between June 1914 and August 1915.
All six ships operated in the Atlantic or Caribbean until the U.S. entrance into World War I in April 1917, when all six were sent overseas to <a href="/facts/Queenstown%2c_Ireland/PxzkPLTf">Queenstown, Ireland</a>, for <a href="/facts/U-boat_Campaign_(World_War_I)/2Ifsfslj">convoy escort</a> duties. Several of the ships rescued passengers and crew from ships sunk by <a href="/facts/U-boat/GgjbMzMT">U-boats</a>, and several had encounters with U-boats themselves; <a href="/facts/USS_Nicholson_(DD-52)/f0v6FGrx">Nicholson</a> helped sink <a href="/facts/SM_U-58/dewmaEcX">U-58</a> in November 1917, the first U-boat sunk by the U.S. Navy. All six members of the class had returned to the United States in January 1919 and were <a href="/facts/Decommission_(ship)/aPxGm7yB">decommissioned</a> by June 1922. In 1924, two of the six—<a href="/facts/USS_Ericsson_(DD-56)/N91qcxeq">Ericsson</a> and <a href="/facts/USS_McDougal_(DD-54)/oSst2Fue">McDougal</a>—were commissioned into the <a href="/facts/United_States_Coast_Guard/6d7SWTP9">United States Coast Guard</a> to help enforce <a href="/facts/Prohibition_in_the_United_States/53aVxXXb">Prohibition</a> as a part of the "<a href="/facts/Rum_Patrol/T1ev55EE">Rum Patrol</a>". They were returned to U.S. Navy custody in 1932 and 1933, respectively. All six ships had been sold for <a href="/facts/Ship_breaking/qh49CobX">scrapping</a> by June 1936.

O'Brien-class destroyer open-in-new

O'Brien-class destroyer