Gibbs & Cox designed the Sims class as an evolution rather than a repeat of an earlier type. The ships introduced the Mark 37 fire-control system with the Ford Mark 1 computer, giving them unusually strong early-war anti-aircraft direction. Westinghouse double-reduction turbines and cruising turbines continued the effort to improve machinery efficiency. Sims also tested the machinery arrangement that Benson later brought to fruition as a more survivable system. Range remained about 5,640 nautical miles at 12 knots, which was useful but below the best interwar American designs. Greater fuel capacity offered another route to longer range alongside improved engine efficiency. Five ships were lost during World War II, often while carrying out dangerous screening missions. USS Hammann was beside Yorktown at Midway, and USS O'Brien was escorting Wasp when torpedo spreads aimed at the carriers struck them. These losses illustrate the risks of screening duty, whose purpose was to protect the larger ship even when an attack could not be stopped farther out.
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Sims paired Mark 37 fire control with an experimental machinery layout
The Sims class introduced Mark 37 fire control and tested the machinery arrangement later developed for Benson, though its range remained modest for Pacific work.