The Sims lineage behind the Fletcher destroyers

The design lineage runs from Sims through Benson and Gleaves to Fletcher, with continuity in five-inch armament and substantial torpedo batteries. Orders grew from twelve Sims to thirty Bensons, sixty-six Gleaves, and 175 completed Fletchers. Building the early classes across public and private yards spread the industrial and design experience needed for rapid iteration. The later ships became larger and more refined without abandoning the general-purpose fleet-escort concept established by Sims. The Fletcher order demonstrates that the United States understood it needed a much larger modern destroyer force even before it was fully ready for war.