Only 36 Wickes-class ships commissioned before the Armistice. Confidence that replacements were coming allowed the Navy to send its existing destroyers overseas. The older ships, especially the prewar thousand-tonners drawn from the fleet of 69, carried much of the actual American destroyer burden in European waters. Completion of the new ships continued well after the war: Tillman commissioned in April 1921, while Stansbury and Howard entered service in 1920. Many ships went into reserve soon after completion because the postwar Navy could not afford to operate its hundreds of destroyers.
Notable Point · 53:13-55:37
The promise of Wickes production freed older destroyers for wartime service
Only 36 Wickes-class ships commissioned before the Armistice, but confidence in the coming fleet allowed older thousand-ton destroyers to deploy across the Atlantic.