As part of my first website for the Newcomb I had a survey. The question was, "What were the most important ships of the war?" Supply and Troop Ships recieved 54% while Destroyers took 42% and Carriers received 4% of the vote. While each argument could stand on its merit, to argue that any one ship was more important than the next is futile. I will have to say that the supply ship, in my opinion, was the beginning and the end of any operation and without it, nothing worked but the supply ship's protection most often fell to the DD and DE's as did the screening duties for the Carriers. Each type of ship had a role and if any failed to execute their assignment, the entire theater was at risk. With that said, I will have to admit that the argument I would make is for the Destroyer. While the Battleships and Carriers were the superstars, floating cities of majestic awe, the destroyer was the workhorse. No other ship was as versatile and as lethal. The crews were small in comparison and tight bonds were a result but most of all, I find myself rooting for the destroyer and defending her much the same way folks defend or root for the underdog, or the smaller fighter.

There is something about seeing a Fletcher cutting through the water at top speed, stern pushed low by the force of her screws churning at 6000 horsepower. A ship as long as a football field practically kicking up a rooster tail while the stacks belched smoke. I cannot imagine what that must have looked like to the Japanese. I love the way the ship seems to bristle with guns. It seems there is no escaping the advantage such a ship had over other ships. If she was turned and headed straight for you (usually a desirable position for the opponent) she gave you little to hit as she was a very sleek, thin ship at 39' wide at her widest point. If she faced you broadside then you were staring at an array of very accurate weaponry from torpedoes, to 5 inch guns. The crew seemed to know the ship in that it seemed that there was hardly a more synchronized group. From what I have learned everyone had a job and everyone performed their jobs and not a plug of that well tuned engine missed firing. To see the main battery director turn to face the target and all five of the 5" guns turn in unison is ominous.

The Fletchers would pull right up into the bays and lagoons close enough that small arms fire from the island would ping off the armor. They would open up on the Japanese until the barrels glowed. I can only imagine what a marine in a landing craft was thinking as he saw the countless streaks of tracers going over him from the destroyers. The idea of the Main battery director seems high tech for the time. That all five 5" guns can be controlled, aimed, and fired from one spot seems incredible. Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors described a skipper who pulled his Fletcher into shallow waters using charts from the pirate days and would unleash as much ordinance as the Navy would allow, even firing small arms from the deck. Another story focuses on a gun director who spotted a Japanese officer rallying his troops for a bonzai charge on a group of marines pinned down onthe beach. He aimed all five 5" guns at this officer and vaporized him. While it was the end of the charge, it draw the attention of the skipper who commended the gunner's shooting but thought the ordinance would be better served on larger targets.

The whole ideals and traditions of the Navy have taken hold and I have become fascinated. I will add more here as I learn more and will include interesting anecdotes and stories.