After the Cassins, successive small classes brought four Aylwins, then six each of the O'Brien, Tucker, Sampson, and Caldwell classes. This sequence extended into World War I: the Tuckers were built between 1914 and 1916. The six Caldwells introduced a standardized design before the jump to 111 Wickes-class destroyers. That increase exposes the size of the wartime requirement the earlier orders had not met. The ships themselves were capable, but the procurement argument questions whether the quantities ordered matched persistent operational need.
Chapter · 36:56-38:35
Thousand-tonners lead from four-ship batches to 111 Wickes
Four Aylwins and six each of four later classes preceded the 111-ship Wickes program, which shows how far the earlier orders had fallen short of wartime demand.