Forrest Sherman-Class Destroyers

The last all-gun destroyers and the first post-war destroyer class. Eighteen ships built between 1953 and 1959 that bridged the gap from WWII-era tin cans to the guided-missile age. Bigger and faster than anything before them, powered by 1,200-psi steam plants generating 70,000 shaft horsepower, armed with three rapid-fire 5-inch/54 guns that could put steel on target at 20 miles. Four were converted to guided-missile destroyers with the Tartar system. Their hull became the foundation for the Charles F. Adams-class DDGs that followed. They served through the Cold War's hottest moments - from the Taiwan Strait Crisis to the Gulf of Tonkin incident that launched the Vietnam War. USS Turner Joy fired the last naval gunfire round of the war. Two survive as museum ships: Edson in Bay City, Michigan, and Turner Joy in Bremerton, Washington.