List of United States Navy destroyer leaders

Flotilla leader USS Clark (DD-361) in front of smaller destroyers

Ships of the United States Navy
Ships in current service
Current ships
Ships grouped alphabetically
A–B C D–F G–H I–K L M N–O P Q–R S T–V W–Z
Ships grouped by type
Aircraft carriers Airships Amphibious warfare ships Auxiliaries Battlecruisers Battleships Cruisers Destroyers Destroyer escorts Destroyer leaders Escort carriers Frigates Hospital ships Littoral combat ships Mine warfare vessels Monitors Oilers Patrol vessels Registered civilian vessels Sailing frigates Steam frigates Steam gunboats Ships of the line Sloops of war Submarines Torpedo boats Torpedo retrievers Unclassified miscellaneous Yard and district craft

In the 1930s, the United States Navy built two classes of flotilla leaders, the Porter class, and the Somers class. Due to the regulations of the London Naval Treaty, these 13 ships had a displacement of 1,850 tons, compared to the 1,500 tons of a "standard" destroyer, but they were still classed as destroyers and carried the hull classification of (DD). When the treaty ended with the outbreak of World War II in Europe in 1939, the much larger Fletcher class was constructed, making the differentiation irrelevant.

The Atlanta-class cruisers were also built during World War II to act in part as flotilla leaders, though they were mainly employed as antiaircraft cruisers.

Following the war, destroyer leader (DL) was a new hull classification symbol used by the U.S. Navy from the 1950s until 1975. These ships were more commonly called frigates, although they were much larger than frigates of other navies. They were intended to be larger and more capable than destroyers and to lead a destroyer task force.

All but the first five destroyer leaders would be designed as guided missile ships (DLG), and two of the first five would be converted to missile ships.

Eight of these ships would be nuclear powered and hold the hull classification (DLGN).

During the 1975 USN ship reclassification these ships were reclassified as guided missile destroyers (DDG) or guided missile cruisers (CG), depending on their size and capabilities; all the nuclear ships would be classed as (CGN). At the same time the smaller destroyer escorts (DE or DEG) were reclassified as 'frigates' (FF or FFG) and so US terminology was brought into line with that of the other NATO members. The last of the destroyer leaders was decommissioned in 1999. A total of 41 ships bore the DL classification.

United States Navy destroyer leaders

Ship	Built as	Reclassified as	Class	Commissioned – decommissioned	NVR link
Norfolk	DL-1	—	Norfolk	1953–1970	DL1
Mitscher	DL-2	DDG-35	Mitscher	1953–1978	DDG35
John S. McCain	DL-3	DDG-36	Mitscher	1953–1978	DDG36
Willis A. Lee	DL-4	—	Mitscher	1954–1969	DL4
Wilkinson	DL-5	—	Mitscher	1954–1969	DL5
Farragut	DLG-6	DDG-37	Farragut	1960–1989	DDG37
Luce	DLG-7	DDG-38	Farragut	1961–1991	DDG38
Macdonough	DLG-8	DDG-39	Farragut	1961–1992	DDG39
Coontz	DLG-9	DDG-40	Farragut	1960–1989	DDG40
King	DLG-10	DDG-41	Farragut	1960–1991	DDG41
Mahan	DLG-11	DDG-42	Farragut	1960–1993	DDG42
Dahlgren	DLG-12	DDG-43	Farragut	1961–1992	DDG43
William V. Pratt	DLG-13	DDG-44	Farragut	1961–1991	DDG44
Dewey	DLG-14	DDG-45	Farragut	1959–1990	DDG45
Preble	DLG-15	DDG-46	Farragut	1960–1991	DDG46
Leahy	DLG-16	CG-16	Leahy	1962–1993	CG16
Harry E. Yarnell	DLG-17	CG-17	Leahy	1963–1993	CG17
Worden	DLG-18	CG-18	Leahy	1963–1993	CG18
Dale	DLG-19	CG-19	Leahy	1963–1994	CG19
Richmond K. Turner	DLG-20	CG-20	Leahy	1964–1995	CG20
Gridley	DLG-21	CG-21	Leahy	1963–1994	CG21
England	DLG-22	CG-22	Leahy	1963–1994	CG22
Halsey	DLG-23	CG-23	Leahy	1963–1994	CG23
Reeves	DLG-24	CG-24	Leahy	1964–1993	CG24
Bainbridge	DLGN-25	CGN-25	Bainbridge	1962–1996	CGN25
Belknap	DLG-26	CG-26	Belknap	1964–1995	CG26
Josephus Daniels	DLG-27	CG-27	Belknap	1965–1994	CG27
Wainwright	DLG-28	CG-28	Belknap	1966–1993	CG28
Jouett	DLG-29	CG-29	Belknap	1966–1994	CG29
Horne	DLG-30	CG-30	Belknap	1967–1994	CG30
Sterett	DLG-31	CG-31	Belknap	1967–1994	CG31
William H. Standley	DLG-32	CG-32	Belknap	1966–1994	CG32
Fox	DLG-33	CG-33	Belknap	1966–1994	CG33
Biddle	DLG-34	CG-34	Belknap	1967–1993	CG34
Truxtun	DLGN-35	CGN-35	Truxtun	1967–1995	CGN35
California	DLGN-36	CGN-36	California	1974–1999	CGN36
South Carolina	DLGN-37	CGN-37	California	1975–1999	CGN37
Virginia	DLGN-38	CGN-38	Virginia	1976–1994	CGN38
Texas	DLGN-39	CGN-39	Virginia	1977–1993	CGN39
Mississippi	DLGN-40	CGN-40	Virginia	1978–1997	CGN40
Arkansas	DLGN-41	CGN-41	Virginia	1980–1998	CGN41

References

Citations

•  This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.