The destroyer class that forced a total overhaul of U.S. naval design

Countries & Cities · Published 16 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: A design flaw in a single ship led to a bureaucratic revolution. When the first Sims-class destroyer was found to be dangerously top-heavy, it exposed a systemic failure in how the Navy designed its warships, ultimately forcing the consolidation of two major naval bureaus into one.

Commissioned between 1939 and 1940, the Sims-class destroyers were the final US class completed before World War II. Designed by Gibbs & Cox, they were intended to be a modest evolution of previous 1500-ton classes, increasing the hull length by only 8 feet. To comply with the Second London Naval Treaty, designers tried to maximize the number of ships by keeping the displacement increase to a mere 70 tons. However, the first ship delivered, the Anderson, was found to be 150 tons overweight and dangerously unstable due to insufficient metacentric height.

This oversight was traced back to the Bureau of Engineering, which underestimated the weight of a new machinery design. Crucially, the Bureau of Construction and Repair lacked the authority to detect or correct such errors during the design process. This failure prompted Acting Secretary of Navy Charles Edison to propose a consolidation of the two design divisions. When the bureau chiefs failed to agree on the terms, Edison replaced both of them in September 1939. The resulting consolidation into the new Bureau of Ships was finally codified by Congress on June 20, 1940.

Beyond administrative reform, the class introduced significant technological leaps. They featured the Mark 37 Gun Fire Control System, which used the Ford Mark 1 Fire Control Computer to provide near real-time automatic aiming for surface and air targets—a system that remained in service until the 1970s. Despite performing widespread duties across Pacific and Atlantic zones, the class is remembered for its heavy losses; four out of twelve vessels perished during warfare, while the four functional ships left were targets for 1946 Operation Crossroads nuclear trials at Bikini Atoll.

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