The Charles F. Adams class: The final steam-powered destroyers of the U.S. Navy

Cultures · Published 10 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Built between 1958 and 1967, the Charles F. Adams-class destroyers were the first ships specifically designed to carry guided missiles. These vessels bridged the gap between traditional steam-powered naval warfare and the modern era of gas turbines, Aegis combat systems, and advanced electronic warfare suites before eventually fading into history.

The Charles F. Adams class represented a significant evolution in naval architecture, derived from the Forrest Sherman-class design. To accommodate the ASROC launcher, engineers extended the hull by 19 feet. While these ships were cutting-edge for the 1950s, by the mid-1970s, they faced obsolescence against modern air threats and guided missiles. In response, the U.S. Navy initiated the New Threat Upgrade (NTU) program, which integrated sophisticated sensor and communication systems, including the AN/SLQ-32(V)2 electronic warfare suite and the Naval Tactical Data System.

Despite these efforts, the Reagan Administration shifted priorities in the 1980s toward the Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, both equipped with the superior Aegis Combat System. Consequently, only three ships—Tattnall, Goldsborough, and Benjamin Stoddert—received the full NTU package. Others received only partial upgrades to keep them operational until the Arleigh Burke class could enter service. The U.S. Navy decommissioned its final vessel of the class, the Goldsborough, on 29 April 1993.

The legacy of the class extended beyond the United States, with variants serving in the Royal Australian Navy as the Perth class and the West German Bundesmarine as the Lütjens class. While the Mölders remains preserved as a museum ship in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, most of the 29 original destroyers met more utilitarian ends. Many were sold for scrap, sunk as target practice, or repurposed as artificial dive reefs, marking the definitive conclusion of the steam-turbine era for American destroyers.

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