USS Somers

USS Somers

USS Porter

USS Atlanta

USS Somers

USS Porter

USS Atlanta

USA

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.0	5.0	5.0

Class:

Destroyer

Research:36 000

Purchase:115 000

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Description

The Somers-class, USS Somers (DD-381), 1938 is a rank III American destroyer with a battle rating of 5.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.87 "Locked On".

General info

Survivability and armour

Talk about the vehicle's armour. Note the most well-defended and most vulnerable zones, e.g. the ammo magazine. Evaluate the composition of components and assemblies responsible for movement and manoeuvrability. Evaluate the survivability of the primary and secondary armament separately. Don't forget to mention the size of the crew, which plays an important role in fleet mechanics. Save tips for preserving survivability in the "Use in battle" section.

If necessary, use a graphics template to show the most well-protected or most vulnerable points in the armour.

Mobility

Write about the ship’s mobility. Evaluate its power and manoeuvrability, rudder rerouting speed, stopping speed at full tilt, with its maximum forward speed and reverse speed.

Armament

Primary armament

The Somers is equipped with 4x twin 5"/38 (12.7 cm) Mark 12 guns, mounted in Mark 22 turrets. This gives Somers incredible anti-surface firepower, as these guns have 15 rounds/minute rate of fire with 40 rounds of ready ammunition.

Like the other American 5"/38 guns, Somers comes with the AAC Mark 34 HE shell as stock and can upgrade to the Common Mark 32 SAP shell. Somers does also have the AAVT Mark 31 HE-VT shell, but this is somewhat hampered due to the limited elevation of the guns (at a maximum of +35 degrees).

Secondary armament

For auxiliary armaments, Somers has a pair of quadruple 1.1"/75 (28 mm) Mark 1 Automatic guns as well as two .50" (12.7 mm) AN-M2 machine guns. One of the 1.1" mounts is placed on an elevated position between the front primary turrets and the bridge while the other is placed just before the after primary turrets. The two machine guns are on the fore end of the ship next to the front primary turrets.

These guns will find good use as anti-torpedo boat guns, as the quadruple 1.1" automatics fire purely HE-T shells giving them a nasty bite against thinly armored vehicles. If they manage to hit aircraft, you can be assured that it will not be unscathed.

Torpedo armament

The Somers has an impressive battery of 3x quadruple 21" (533 mm) torpedo tubes, using the Mark 15 torpedo. All of the launchers are on the ship's centerline so a total broadside of 12 torpedoes can be launched. No other destroyer has such a large volley, but they also do not have the same reload capacity as the Japanese destroyers.

The default torpedo setting is a range of 5,500 meters at a speed of 45 knots. This can be modified to a range of 9,150 meters at a reduced speed of 33.5 knots. Each torpedo has a warhead of 224 kg TNT.

Usage in battles

The U.S.S. Somers is a powerful ship. This is because of the ship's main armament, which consists of eight 127mm cannons mounted in four dual turrets, gaining an extra turret compared to the Sumner. This gives it the most broadside potential of any destroyer in the game. These guns also fire ridiculously fast at a whopping 2.8 seconds aced. This allows the Somers to have unmatched firepower potential for a destroyer, with its main rival being the Type 1936A (Mob) with it's slower firing but larger calibre guns. As such, you should use this ship mainly to combat enemy destroyers. With good aim and luck, you should be able to take on any destroyer in the game in a straight-up 1 vs 1 fight. The ship is also equipped with 12 torpedoes, mounted in three quadruple launchers. While these torpedoes lack the reload ability of Japanese destroyers, you are able to fire more torpedoes in a single volley. These launchers are also equipped centerline meaning you can fire them off in any direction. The Somers is capable of dealing significant damage to even cruisers, but you should not fight a cruiser one-on-one as they will still have better firepower and more durability. However, the Somers makes a great support ship to attack a cruiser if it's already engaging a friendly ship.

Unlike a majority of the late-war USN destroyers, the Somers does not have an adequate anti-air suite. The main power of your anti-air will be your main battery which is capable of firing Radio-Fuse shells. These will prove to be very useful to deal with enemy aircraft at long range, but you will struggle to deal with enemies that breach your defences. The ship is also equipped with two 1,1 inch/75 Mk.1 (28 mm) anti-air guns, and two AN-M2 Browning machine guns. However, you lack the stronger and more modern Oerlikon 20mm and Bofors 40mm cannons that your fellow USN destroyers are equipped with. This means that you have a significant disadvantage when it comes to anti-air protection and as such, you cannot use the Somers as an anti-air ship to the same extent of a Sumner (DD-692) or Cowell (DD-547).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Eight 127 mm guns, the highest amount of main guns of a destroyer, tied with IJN Akizuki
• Twelve torpedoes, giving it the largest torpedo volley potential of any destroyer
• Fast firing rate with main guns
• Equipped with Radio Fuse shells to combat aircraft

Cons:

• Weak anti-air armament, only equipped with 28 mm autocannons and 12.7 mm Browning machine guns
• Not as well armoured as other USN DDs
• Turrets easy to destroy

History

In the mid-1930s, the U.S. Navy ordered the construction of the Somers-class destroyers. Although initially intended to only be repeats of the preceding Porter-class, the availability of a more economical power plant, developed for the Mahan-class, resulted in the Somers design being modified to facilitate this new power plant and being made into a new class entirely.

As a result of using the new power plant, great savings in weight and space were made, allowing for the use of just a single funnel, which made it possible to install a third torpedo launcher on the ship’s aft. Despite these changes however, the design remained overweight and top heavy. Nevertheless, construction commenced, with the lead ship of the class, USS Somers (DD-381) being laid down in June 1935 and commissioned into service in December 1937.

USS Somers (DD-381) spent most of her early service period assigned to various missions in the Atlantic. On one instance, the ship was tasked with transporting a consignment of gold from London to New York in 1938.

During WW2, USS Somers continued operating in the Atlantic, occasionally intercepting German blockade runners and briefly operating off the coast of West Africa in early 1943. In 1944, USS Somers took part in the invasion of Normandy as well as the allied landings in Southern France in the Mediterranean theater.

USS Somers’ final missions are marked with convoy escort duties as part of several transatlantic voyages. In May 1945, USS Somers returned to U.S. waters and underwent overhauls in August, before being decommissioned from active service in October. In May 1947, USS Somers was taken apart for scraps, marking the end of her service life of almost 10 years.

- Development Diary

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the ship;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Devblog] USS Somers (DD-381): Strength in Numbers