7022 US NAVY DESTROYER SOMERS 1940

The USS Somers (DD-381) was an American destroyer, the keel of which was laid in June 1935, launched in March 1937, and was completely completed in December of the same year. The total length of the ship at the time of launching was 116.1 m, width 11.25 m, with a full displacement of about 2,800 tons. The maximum speed was up to 35 knots. The armament of the unit at the time of launching included: 8 127 mm guns, 2 quadruple 28 mm anti-aircraft guns and 12 533 mm torpedo tubes. In the course of World War II, the weapons were subject to changes - especially anti-aircraft weapons were strengthened. USS Somers (DD-381) was the first of five Somers-class destroyers. Units of this type were created as part of the US Navy expansion program in the second half of the 1930s and it was assumed that they would act as the leaders of the destroyer flotilla. Therefore, they put emphasis on the development of artillery and torpedo armaments. It was also assumed that they would serve primarily in the Atlantic. Ultimately, very heavily armed ships with good performance and sea bravery were created. However, they had some problems with stability and incorrect setting of the center of gravity. In the course of renovations and modernizations, efforts were made to correct these errors, but with varying results. USS Somers (DD-381) was built at the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Kearny, NJ. During World War II, the unit operated mainly in the Atlantic Ocean, fighting German raiders and carrying out convoy tasks. In 1943, she indirectly secured the participation of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at the Casablanca Conference. In June 1944, USS Somers (DD-381) took part in the Allied landing in Normandy, and in August of the same year supported landing operations in southern France as part of Operation Dragoon. Until the end of 1944, it operated in the Mediterranean, and in early 1945 it returned to the cover of convoys in the Atlantic. At the end of 1945, the unit was withdrawn and shortly afterwards sold for scrap.