USS Litchfield

USS Litchfield

USS Aylwin

USS Litchfield

USS Aylwin

USA

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.3	3.3	3.3

Class:

Destroyer

Research:Free

Purchase:Free

Show in game

Description

The USS Litchfield (DD-336/AG-95) is a member of the Clemson-class destroyer family. On January 15, 1919, the USS Litchfield was laid down from the Mare Island Navy Yard. Mrs. Martha D. Litchfield, the mother of Pharmacist's Mate Litchfield, sponsored the vessel's launch on August 12, 1919. The destroyer was commissioned on May 12, 1920. By the end of 1921, the USS Litchfield had sailed from San Diego, California, to Charleston, South Carolina. The USS Litchfield sailed from Newport, Rhode Island, to join Division 39 for service in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, arriving in Constantinople on June 28, 1922. The USS Litchfield supported humanitarian issues as well as American foreign policy. The USS Litchfield returned to the United States late in 1923, carrying the remains of World War I hero George Dilboy, who had been brought to the U.S. for reburial after his original grave had been desecrated as part of the Greco-Turkish battle. After completing her last operation on July 21, 1945, the USS Litchfield arrived in San Diego on August 9, 1945, where she was decommissioned on November 5, 1945, and removed from the Naval Vessel Register on November 28, 1945. On March 29, 1946, the Philadelphia Navy Yard completed the scrapping.

Introduced in Update 1.79 "Project X", the USS Litchfield is an early destroyer for players who want to explore the US Navy's bluewater fleet. The USS Litchfield is a fantastic starting point for basic destroyer gameplay. Since her smaller guns are precise, she is good at sinking smaller ships. She also has fair manoeuvrability for her rank and acceptable secondary guns. The USS Litchfield, on the other hand, cannot successfully deal with other destroyers as her firepower is limited and will not inflict much damage to them. Furthermore, the shell velocity is moderate, making long-range engagement difficult. Finally, there is no anti-aircraft armament, which is a significant disadvantage, especially when there are a large number of opposing aircraft present during engagements.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Hull16 mm (steel)

Superstructure4 mm (steel)

Number of section7

Displacement1 699 t

Crew150 people

USS Litchfield has no armour grade steel on the hull, leaving her only protection as the 0.63 inches of steel the hull is constructed from. This means that any guns 3 inches and up will slice through at essentially any battle range. It will protect against 20 mm fire at all but point blank range, and 40 mm fire at medium ranges. She has fuel tanks around her engines which can provide some slight protection against low penetrating shells and small bombs, but these should not be relied on to absorb any significant amounts of damage. The magazines are placed below the fore and aft turrets, below the waterline. This leaves them out of the line of fire of most enemy vessels and allows some degree of survivability against fire, though the crew of only 150 still will usually lead to the ship being rendered ineffective relatively quickly. USS Litchfield is still more survivable than most coastal vessels, though compared to later bluewater vessels Captains should be much more wary of taking concentrated fire from enemy vessels. As for her turrets, they have 0.195 inches of armour on their gunshields, which is only enough to stop rifle calibre rounds.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB79 / 26 km/h

RB65 / 22 km/h

Mobility Characteristics
Game Mode	Upgrade Status	Maximum Speed (km/h)		Turn Time (s)	Turn Radius (m)
		Forward	Reverse
AB	Stock	58	19	~98.65	~178.81
	Upgraded	79	26	___	___
RB/SB	Stock	___	___	___	___
	Upgraded	65	22	___	___

Four boilers and two geared steam turbines produce 27,000 HP, allowing her a top speed of just under 65 km/h with a spaded vessel. Her rudder shift is 5.4s, which is quite workable for her battle rating and her strange gun layout. She is very average compared to other destroyers, but it serves as a good indication of what to expect for future destroyers.

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

ABfree

RBfree

Total cost of modifications3 880

177

Talisman cost190

Crew trainingfree

Experts1 000

Aces10

Research Aces80 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

20 / 30 / 100 %

100 / 100 / 100 %

Modifications

Seakeeping	Unsinkability	Firepower
Dry-Docking Research: 440 Cost: 19 55 Rudder Replacement Research: 300 Cost: 13 35 Propeller Replacement Engine Maintenance Research: 720 Cost: 35 90	Damage Control Division Fire Division Smokescreen Research: 300 Cost: 13 35 Ventilation Research: 330 Cost: 15 40 Shrapnel Protection Research: 330 Cost: 15 40 New Pumps Ammo Wetting Research: 720 Cost: 35 90	102mm_usa_navy_mk16_special_common_ammo_pack Research: 440 Cost: 19 55 Auxiliary Armament Targeting 102mm_usa_navy_mk15_base_fuze_ammo_pack Research: 300 Cost: 13 35 Primary Armament Targeting Improved Rangefinder

Armament

Primary armament

4 х Turret4 inch/50 Mk.9 cannon

Ammunition300 rounds

Vertical guidance-10° / 20°

DD-336 Clemson carries four 102 mm Mk.9 cannons. They have a HE shell and APHEBC round available to them, both of which are mediocre shells. It's worthwhile to stay with the HE shell as this Clemson doesn't see well-armoured enemies, so the extra HE filler over the APHEBC round is a bonus. They have a traverse speed of 12 degrees per second, which is good compared to other early destroyers. A reload speed of 7.93 seconds with a stock crew or 6.1 seconds with a fully aced crew is decent, but slow compared to other destroyers of a slightly higher rank. Her shells are decently 'floaty' and require good leading at range, and you will be outgunned by almost every other destroyer of a higher BR. With a maximum elevation of 20 degrees, you cannot target enemy planes effectively. The gun mounts have 5 mm of anti-fragmentation armour on each turret. With 1 gun in the front, 1 in the rear, and 1 on each side, you can only bring 3 of 4 guns to a broadside; but, you can swing back and forth to use each side gun effectively.

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		1,000 m	2,500 m	5,000 m	7,500 m	10,000 m	15,000 m
HC Mk.15	HE	16	16	16	16	16	16
SP Common	SP Common	98	76	51	35	25	21
HC Mk.15 (base fuse)	HE	50	39	26	18	16	16

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (s)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
HC Mk.15	HE	884	14.97	0	0.1	1,210	79°	80°	81°
SP Common	SP Common	884	14.97	0.01	5	519.4	48°	63°	71°
HC Mk.15 (base fuse)	HE	884	14.97	0.015	0.1	1,210	79°	80°	81°

Secondary armament

Turret3 inch/23 Mk.4 cannon

Ammunition350 rounds

This Clemson has a single 3-inch Mk.24 gun on the rear. It can carry HE or APHEBC shells, but as it's a secondary, you may as well use the HE since the AI will gun it for you. The 3 inch Mk.24 reloads in 6.7s with a stock crew and 3.35s with a fully aced crew, making it surprisingly good for dealing with small boats that would out-traverse your main armament. This gun has a traverse speed of 25 degrees per second, so it will be your backup against smaller ships. It also elevates at 25 degrees per second and has a maximum elevation of 70 degrees. The AI may snipe a plane if you're lucky, but that'll be your only AA.

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		100 m	1,000 m	2,000 m	3,000 m	4,000 m	5,000 m
AA Mk.26	HE-TF	7	7	7	7	7	7
Common Mk.3	Common	58	47	37	30	25	21

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
AA Mk.26	HE-TF	503	5.9	0	0.1	340	79°	80°	81°
Common Mk.3	Common	503	5.9	1.6	8	62	47°	60°	65°

Additional armament

Setup 112 x 21 in wet-heating Mk.8 torpedo

She carries four triple torpedo launchers, utilizing the 21-inch Mk.8 torpedo. Their firing arcs are pretty good, and the sheer number of torpedoes and their positioning - two mounts on each side - means you can zig-zag to drop all twelve torpedoes. The Mk.8 has a good range of 9.1 km, but a very slow speed of 50 km/h and a mediocre explosive load of 146 kg.

Usage in battles

She is good as a learning platform for basic destroyer play. Good at sinking smaller ships because her smaller guns are accurate, with decent traverse speed for the BR and a passable secondary gun. She cannot effectively deal with other destroyers however, as her guns are small and will fail to do much damage to them. Her torpedoes will do good work for area saturation, and using the rudder to swing the ship back and forth will allow you to put most guns on target and use the good torpedo arcs.

Pros and cons

Destroyers abilities of the USS Litchfield.

Pros:

• Six torpedoes per side
• Turret traverse is decent compared to other first-generation destroyers
• Decent firing arcs

Cons:

• Slow shell velocity and rate of fire, making long-shots difficult
• No anti-aircraft guns, vulnerable to any aircraft
• No armour
• Firepower is woefully inadequate for dealing with later destroyers

History

The Clemson class of destroyers were built between 1918 and 1922, as the last "flush-decker" type in the US navy, an evolution of the Wickes class. They were designed to do anti-submarine combat better than preceding destroyer classes, should the US get involved in another naval war after WW I. The Clemson had the same armament as the Wickes, however, there were provisions for 5-inch guns, which only seven destroyers received. DD-336 in-game, USS Litchfield, was commissioned in May 1920. She helped with humanitarian efforts in Greece and Armenia and was overhauled in 1923. Joining Destroyer Squadron 12, her crew earned money for doing very effective short-range fire. In May 1937, she was designated flagship of Submarine Squadron 4 and participated in drills at and nearby Pearl Harbor. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, she escorted US submarines near the base and conducted anti-submarine patrols. In 1944, she performed convoy escorts to Midway and Eniwetok, rescued aircraft crew, performed exercises, and in at least one case salvaged an aircraft. After escorting a convoy to Guam in March 1945, she was redesignated an auxiliary; she was ordered to be decommissioned in November 1945 and was scrapped in March 1946.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the USS Litchfield from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Related development

• Clemson (Family)

External links

• [Wikipedia] USS Litchfield (DD-336)
• [Wikipedia] Clemson-class destroyer

Mare Island Navy Yard
Gun Destroyers (DD)
Clemson-class	USS Litchfield