U.S. destroyers balance torpedo attack with fleet defense

Earlier U.S. designs such as the Bagley class could carry sixteen torpedoes, making them powerful offensive tools but exposing much of the deck to weapons that could detonate when hit. The Sims pattern reduced that extreme concentration and pushed the force toward a more balanced fleet escort. Anti-submarine warfare still received less institutional attention than in the Royal Navy before the United States entered the war. The central American mission was protecting a battle fleet and its logistics while crossing the Pacific and fighting Japanese surface forces. That combination demanded durable all-round destroyers that could defend as well as attack.