Sampson-class destroyer

The Sampson-class destroyers served in the United States Navy during the First World War, and were commissioned in 1916 and 1917. The class was a modification of the O'Brien and Tucker classes, with the 21-inch torpedo tubes increased from four twin mounts to four triple mounts. The six Sampsons were the last of the 26 thousand-ton destroyers, the largest and most heavily armed of them, and the flush-deck classes that followed differed mainly in hull design and engineering plant. In 1917, with the Navy short of first-line destroyers and escorting troop convoys to France the top priority, only two Sampson-class ships and the first three of the Caldwell class were commissioned that year. The oldest pre-war destroyer to see service in the Second World War was Allen, of this class. Bath Iron Works in Maine built two of the six, Davis and Allen.