The
Charles F. Adams class of
guided missile destroyers was a group of twenty-nine built between
1958 and
1967. Twenty-three of these ships were built for the
United States Navy, three for the
Royal Australian Navy, and three for the West German
Bundesmarine. The ships were based on the existing
Forrest Sherman class, but were the first destroyers designed to serve as missile destroyers. They added 19ft of length to the center of the Forrest Sherman design to accommodate the ASROC launcher in the center of the ship and changed the boilers from 600 psi to 1275 psi. Both of these changes ultimately caused significant maintenance problems for all ships in the class. The
Charles F. Adams-class destroyers were the last
steam-powered destroyers built for the U.S. Navy. Beginning with the follow-on
Spruance-class destroyers, all succeeding destroyer classes have been powered by
gas turbines. The destroyers of this class served in the
Cuban blockade of
1962 and the
Vietnam War.
Although designed with cutting edge technology for the 1950’s, by the mid 1970’s it was clear to the Navy that the
Charles F. Adams class was ill-prepared to deal with modern air and missile threats. To reduce this vulnerability the Navy initiated the
New Threat Upgrade (NTU) program, which consisted of a number of sensor, weapons and communications upgrades, intended to extend the service life of the ships. Under NTU the
Adams class would receive improved electronic warfare capability through the installation of the
AN/SLQ-32(V)2 EW Suite. The upgraded combat system would include the
MK86 Gun Fire Control System with
AN/SPQ-9 radar,
Hughes AN/SPS-52C 3D radar,
AN/SPG-51C (Digital) Fire Control Radars, and
Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS). The ships would also have the ability to launch
RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, to be housed in the MK-11
Tartar missile launcher.
During the 1980’s the
Reagan Administration chose to accelerate production of the
Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers and build the
Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers as a replacement for the
Adams class. The result of this was that only three ships, , , and received the full upgrade. Other ships, of the class, such as
Charles F. Adams, received only partial upgrades which included the AN/SLQ-32 and Harpoon Missile upgrades intended to extend their service lives until the
Burke class could reach operational capability.
The United States Navy decommissioned its last
Charles F. Adams destroyer, the
Goldsborough, on
April 29,
1993. The Australian and German navies had also decommissioned their last ships of this class by
2003. Four ships of this class were transferred to the
Hellenic Navy in
1992. All four have since been decommissioned.
The has been placed on inactive hold status and there are attempts by private groups to have it preserved as a museum ship.
Mölders (D186) was made into a museum ship, but all of the other destroyers in the class have been sunk as targets, sunk for dive wrecks or sold for scrap.
Members of the Charles F. Adams class
Hellenic NavyLütjens class
The Lütjens rendering honors after 9-11
The
Lütjens class destroyer was a modification of the
Charles F. Adams class for the
Bundesmarine (Navy of
West Germany). It differed from the Adams class in the layout of the crew accommodations, the location of the bow sonar, a second large aerial mast and different funnels.
Perth class
The
Royal Australian Navy had three
Charles F. Adams class units constructed to their own specifications (these ships were designated the
Perth class). Although broadly similar to the US Navy's vessels, the Australian ships were fitted with the
Ikara system instead of the
ASROC that was fitted to the American units. The three ships were:
