List of destroyer classes of the United States Navy The first automotive torpedo was developed in 1866 , and the torpedo boat was developed soon after . In 1898 , while the Spanish – American War was being fought in the Caribbean and the Pacific , Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt wrote that torpedo boats were the only threat to the American navy , and pushed for the acquisition of torpedo boat destroyer s . On 4 May 1898 , the US Congress authorized the first sixteen torpedo boat destroyers and twelve " seagoing torpedo boats " for the United States Navy . In World War I , the U . S . Navy began mass - producing destroyers , laying 273 keels of the Clemson and Wickes class destroyers . The peace time years between 1919 — 1941 , resulted in many of these flush deck destroyers being laid up . Additionally , treaties regulated destroyer construction . During World War II , the United States began building destroyers with five - gun main batteries , but without stability problems . The first major warship produced by the U . S . Navy after World War II ( and in the Cold War ) were " frigate s " — the ships were actually designated destroyer leader s but later reclassified as guided missile destroyer s . Other classes were produced , including the last all - gun destroyers . A special class was produced for the Shah of Iran , but due to the Iranian Revolution these ships could not be delivered and were added to the U . S . Navy . The " Arleigh Burke " class , introduced in 1991 , has been the U . S . Navy ' s only destroyer class in commission since 2005 ; construction is expected to continue through at least 2012 . A future class , " Zumwalt " , is also planned . The " Zumwalt " class is expected to number three ships . Pre – World War I . In 1864 , US Navy Lt . William B . Cushing sank the ironclad using a " spar torpedo " — an explosive device mounted on a long pole and detonated underwater . Two years later in Austria , the British engineer Robert Whitehead developed a compressed air " automotive " torpedo ; capable of over a distance of . The threat a small , fast , torpedo – delivering ship could pose to the battle line became clear to navies around the world ; giving birth to the torpedo boat , including the of the United States Navy . During the Spanish – American War , Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt wrote torpedo boats were " the only real menace " to the fleet blockading Santiago ; and pushed for the acquisition of torpedo boats and torpedo boat destroyers . As President , Theodore Roosevelt continued to pay close attention to naval affairs , including the expansion of the Navy ' s fleet of destroyers . In 1898 Congress authorized 16 torpedo boat destroyers , which would join the fleet by 1903 . The first torpedo boat destroyers , the " Bainbridge " class , featured two torpedo tube s and two 3 inch guns , displacing . The " Smith " and " Paulding " classes displaced , the reason these classes were nicknamed " flivvers " ( lightweights ) . By the time the United States entered World War I , destroyer s displaced and burned oil instead of coal . These " 1000 tonners " were armed with eight torpedo tubes , four 4 inch / 50 caliber guns ; and had a complement of approximately 100 officers and men . The 1000 tonners were classes " Cassin " through " Sampson " , and were also called " broken deckers " , due to the high forecastle s . World War I . Prior to entering World War I in 1917 , the United States began producing destroyers to a new design with a continuous sheer strake , collectively referred to as " flush deck ers . " Six prototypes of the " Caldwell " class were dissimilar : three had three stacks ; two of these also had three screws . The others of this and the 267 ships of the mass - production " Wickes " and " Clemson " classes that followed all had two screws . As built , they also had four stacks , which gave rise to the nicknames " four stackers " or " four pipers " . Eleven shipyards participated in their construction , which peaked in 1917 and 1918 . By the time of the armistice , November 11 , 1918 , keels for 177 ships had been laid and 41 had joined the fleet . Though the remaining ships were not needed in peacetime , the building program continued and by the end of May 1921 , all but four of the 273 flush - deckers had been placed in commission . The final two did not follow until August 1922 . While the flush - deckers ' freeboard fore and aft were designed to match preceding classes , the new ships differed in other respects . The waist guns were moved to a platform amidships , the galley beneath them ; and a bulwark between the galley and the bridge . The standard displacement of the flush deck destroyers was , the length approximately , the beam measured approximately , and the draft approximately . A typical flush deck destroyer had a normal crew of 105 officers and men , and was armed with four 4 - inch deck guns , one 3 - inch anti - aircraft gun , 12 21 - inch torpedo tube s , two stern - mounted depth charge racks , along with 50 caliber machine guns and small arms . The mass - produced classes also had four boilers providing steam to a pair of turbines , each of which drove a screw at a combined for a top speed of about . Between the world wars . After the end of World War I , there was little need for the destroyer s built , so many were laid up , and fourteen had their torpedo tube s removed and were converted to minesweepers . On September 8 , 1923 , seven of the ships ran aground off the coast of California — the U . S . Navy ' s worst ever peacetime disaster . In 1922 , the Washington Naval Treaty , was signed by the United States , the British Empire , the Empire of Japan , France , and Italy . The treaty called for a freeze in size and composition of the world ' s major navies , including the U . S . Navy , which ceased production of large capital ship s . The London Naval Treaty , a 1930 agreement between the same parties , established total destroyer tonnage limits for the navies . The treaty also defined two categories : destroyer and destroyer leader ; along with the maximum tonnage of each category , and the allowable ratio of one category to another . In the London Naval Treaty , destroyers were established as " surface vessels of war the Standard Displacement ( S . D . ) of which does not exceed 1 , 850 tons and with a gun not above 5 . 1 inch caliber " , as published in " Ship ’ s Data for U . S . Naval Vessels " . The “ total completed tonnage not to be exceeded on December 31 , 1936 ” was 150 , 000 S . D . , but “ not more than 16 % of the allowed tonnage . . . shall be employed in vessels over 1 , 500 tons S . D . ” . The new , higher limits rendered the existing flush - deckers obsolete , and the General Board soon moved to replace them . Since Japan was considered a probable adversary , the General Board replaced the four stackers with ships that could carry large quantities of fuel , ammunition , and supplies as needed to conduct operations across the vast Pacific Ocean . The U . S . Navy resumed destroyer construction in 1932 with the " Farragut " class . For the next seven years , the United States Navy constructed " 1500 tonners " , or " goldplaters " . The goldplaters earned this name because of the " over – lavish facilities " , which drew comment from seasoned destroyermen . The armament of the " Farragut " and " Mahan " class destroyers initially included five 5 inch guns , a number later reduced to four due to stability problems . The 1500 ton " Mahan " , " Dunlap " , " Gridley " , " Bagley " , and " Benham " classes , the 1570 ton " Sims " class , and the " Porter " and " Somers " class destroyer leader s were all laid down in quick succession following the original goldplaters . The " Gleaves " and " Benson " classes were similar in design to the " Sims " class , but had two stacks and a " split " powerplant for extra endurance against torpedo attacks . World War II . On December 7 , 1941 , the day the United States entered World War II , the United States Navy had 100 destroyers seven years old or newer . This number included 27 " Benson " and " Gleaves " class destroyers . However , none were equipped with torpedoes comparable to the ( then unknown ) Type 93 torpedo s ( " Long Lance torpedo " ) of the Imperial Japanese Navy , and only destroyer leader s had more than four main guns — inferior to the five - to eight - guns on a Japanese " Fubuki " class destroyer ( the first 24 ships of the " Benson / Gleaves " class were built with five guns , but excessive topweight led to one being removed ) . After World War II broke out across Europe in 1939 , the United States Navy began sketches for a five - gun ship — on an enlarged hull . Introduced in 1942 , the 175 " Fletcher " class " 2100 tonners " . became the U . S . Navy ' s signature destroyer in the Pacific War . By the end of World War II , the U . S . Navy had also commissioned 112 six - gun destroyers derived from the Fletcher design ; 67 " Allen M . Sumner " class 2200 tonners and 45 " Gearing " class 2250 tonners . The " Allen M . Sumner " class ' hull was slightly wider than the " Fletcher " class ' while the " Gearing " class design was a lengthened version of the " Sumner " s . Collectively , these destroyer designs are sometimes regarded as the most successful of World War II . Cold War and beyond . The first major warship the U . S . Navy constructed after World War II was an all - weather , anti - submarine hunter - killer , designated " destroyer leader " ( DL ) , but referred to as a " frigate " . In 1975 , the twelve remaining " Mitscher " - and " Farragut " - classes were reclassified as guided missile destroyer s ( DDGs 35 - 46 ) . Derived from the " Fletcher " concept , the all - gun " Forrest Sherman " class destroyer was the successor to the " Fletcher " , the " Allen M . Sumner " , and the " Gearing " classes . The following " Charles F . Adams " classes added a guided missile launcher on an enlarged hull . The " Spruance " class was designed to serve as all - weather anti - submarine escorts for aircraft carrier task force s , as their anti - air missile complement was only sufficient for point defense . The " Spruance " class destroyers were the first ships in the United States Navy powered with gas turbines — four marine jet engines driving two shafts with reversible - pitch propellers . The 31 Spruance class ships began service in September 1975 through the 1990s , when 24 members of the class were upgraded with Vertical launching system s , and the last was decommissioned in 2005 . The " Kidd " class was based on the " Spruance " class , but designed as more advanced multi - purpose ships , intended for the Iranian Navy . In 1979 , a revolution took place in Iran , the Shah was dethroned but instead of cancelling the four ships , they were taken into the U . S . Navy , where they were nicknamed the " Ayatollah " or " dead Admiral " class . The , the lead ship of the " Arleigh Burke " class , was the first destroyer named after a living person — World War II Admiral Arleigh Burke . At her commissioning , the USS " Arleigh Burke " was extolled as the most powerful surface warship ever built . The USS " Arleigh Burke " is one - third longer and correspondingly heavier than the " Fletcher " class destroyers of the squadron Burke commanded in World War II ; but about the same complement . The " Arleigh Burke " class destroyers were based around the " Aegis " Combat System , like the larger " Ticonderoga " class cruisers . The " Arleigh Burke " class was introduced in four " flights " : Flight I , consisting of " Arleigh Burke " ; Flight IA composed of 20 ships ; Flight II , composed of 7 ships ; and Flight IIA , composed of 34 ships . The " Arleigh Burke " class became the U . S . Navy ' s only active destroyer class when the last member of the " Spruance " class was decommissioned in 2005 . The " Zumwalt " class destroyer , a future class , is planned to cost US $ 3 . 3 billion for the first unit ; subsequent units will cost an estimated US $ 2 . 5 billion ; however , the average cost could rise to US $ 5 billion or more .