The 2100-ton Fletchers were the US Navy’s first flushdeck destroyer design since the “four-stackers” of World War I. Their hulls were welded, and incorporated both longitudinal and

This section contains selected engineering drawings plus images of Strong’s officers, her construction and launch at Bath, detailed photos of her fitting out at New York Navy Yard, and images of her at sea.    Photos of other ships that operated with Strong and were similar to her in appearance include construction and launch of De Haven; launch and builder’s trials of Nicholas; construction and inclining experiments of Taylor, fitting out Fletcher.

transverse framing.
   The two-stack profile reflected engineering spaces in which fire rooms alternated with engine rooms, with the forward pair servicing the starboard shaft and the aft pair servicing the port shaft. These engineering spaces interrupted the platform decks, so that only the main deck extended continuously over the length of the ship.

Strong was the first of eleven 2100-tonners from Bath (with Taylor, De Haven, Conway, Cony Converse, Eaton, Foote, Spence, Terry and Thatcher—Bath hull nos. 193–203) completed with only one single 20mm Oerlikon on each side at the waist (above) and the first of fourteen (these ships plus Anthony, Wadsworth and Walker) with 40mm twin Bofors on both the after deckhouse and fantail (bottom drawing).    Click to view Bath’s engineering drawing of Strong’s outboard profile (top) at 480x1824 (119K) or 4655x1140 (386K) resolution. Click on the other images above and below to view them in more detail, or on the blue buttons at left for additional images.

   Strong’s main armament consisted of five single 5-inch/38 cal dual-purpose guns. She also carried two quintuple 21-inch torpedo tube mounts.
   Her long-range anti-aircraft armament reflected a transition between the unsuccessful quad 1.1-inch and the standard outfit of ten 40mm twins. Like all later high-bridge Fletchers built at Bath Iron Works, Strong was fitted with two 40mm Bofors twins on her centerline, one between the 53 and 54 mounts and one on the fantail (as shown in the drawing below). Her armament, which was unchanged during her short career, also included four 20mm light anti-aircraft singles, and depth charge projectors and racks.
   A rounded bridge structure with the high gun director carried over from the Sims class, plus 36-inch searchlights mounted on a platform on the aft stack, completed the “look” of an early Fletcher-class ship.