Converse, ordered 28 June 1940, was fitted with the original high, round bridge carried over from the Sims class. Like other 2,100-ton Fletcher-class destroyers completed at Bath Iron Works in late 1942, specifications for hull 198, Converse, were the same as sister Strong:
    Length Overall: 376' 5½"
    Extreme Beam: 39' 8"
    Normal Displacement: 2,050 long tons
    Draft: Light: 8' 1"; Mean: 13' 5" Deep: 22’8”
    Designed Complement: Officers, 34; Enlisted, 295
    Designed Shaft Horsepower: 60,000
    Designed Speed: 36 knots
    Screws: Two
    Rudder: One
    Stacks: Two
    Tactical diameter: 950 yards at 30 knots
    Endurance: 4,800 nautical miles at 15 knots.
Converse in 1943

Converse in 1943.

Converse’s initial armament was that of a typical mid-period high-bridge Fletcher-class destroyer arriving in the war zone in 1943: five 5-inch guns in single mounts, six 40mm guns in two twin mounts (one between the 53 and 54 mounts; the others in elevated gun tubs in way of the after stack) and ten 21-inch torpedo tubes in quintuple mounts plus 20mm guns (including one on an elevated platform forward of the bridge) and depth charges.
    Primary: 5 x 5-inch/38 cal. in five single mounts
    Long-range anti-aircraft: 6 x 40mm Bofors in five twin mounts
    Short-range anti-aircraft: 7–12 x 20mm Oerlikon in single mounts
    Torpedo Tubes: 10 x 21-inch in two quintuple mounts
    ASW: 2 racks for 600-lb. charges; 6 “K”-guns for 300-lb. charges
Her electronics were also typical:
    Radar: SC (air search) and SG (surface search), Mk 37 (fire control)
    Sonar: QC
Converse in 1944

Converse in 1944.

Converse was modified in 1944 to carry two more 40mm twin mounts forward of the bridge—replacing the 20mm single mounts—in common with 157 of 166 then-active Fletchers:
    Primary: 5 x 5-inch/38 cal. in five single mounts
    Long-range anti-aircraft: 10 x 40mm Bofors in five twin mounts
    Short-range anti-aircraft: 7 x 20mm Oerlikon in single mounts
    Torpedo Tubes: 10 x 21-inch in two quintuple mounts
    ASW: 2 racks for 600-lb. charges; 6 “K”-guns for 300-lb. charges
From the beginning, Converse also carried 20mm single mounts, eventually mounting four in the waist and three on the fantail.