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All the 5 inch/38 caliber gun turrets rotate.
Shown are Mounts #1 and #2.

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This top view shows the 2 quintuplets of 21" torpedo tubes.
The four mounts of twin 20mm Oerlikon AA guns show their golden magazines. Often these guns were just single mounts.
Two of the larger 40mm twin mount Bofors AA guns are beside the aft funnel and two more are forward of the bridge. The fifth 40mm twin Bofors mount is out-of-view in the above image but shows in the image below located between #3 and  #4 turrets.

Photography by Action Asia Photo
© 2002-8 Action Asia Photo - All Rights Reserved
www.actionasiaphoto.com

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This stern view shows the three aft 5"/38 cal main guns turrets. Also shown are the twin racks of 600 lb depth charges that rolled off the stern and the 3 racks (per side) of 300 lb depth charges that were hurled by "K-guns" (at very right on the main deck).

The name "Fletcher Class" is almost synonymous with the word "destroyer" when used in the context of World War II. This outstanding class was the largest class of destroyers ever built with 175 hulls being commissioned. Started by DD-445 "USS Fletcher" whose hull was laid down at Kearny, NY in October 1941, the last ship in the class was DD-804 "USS Rooks" - commissioned in September, 1944. Preceded by the Gleaves Class, the Fletcher Class was succeeded by the Allen M. Sumner Class.

The Fletcher Class was one of the pre-eminent destroyer classes of all time and the mainstay of the WWII destroyer fleet. They were the largest destroyers of their day (over 900 tons heavier than the Gleaves class, standard weight) and were the first destroyers equipped with radar. This huge class of ships performed every kind of duty in every theatre of WWII and - after the war - served with many nations including the United States.
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Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM)

Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization - or FRAM - was a program to extend the useful lives of WWII era US Navy ships - specifically destroyers - during the time of the Eisenhower Administration who was seeking major cuts in US defense spending at the same time that the Navy faced a growing strategic threat from the Russian submarine force. With the Soviets having over 300 fast-attack submarines in service by 1957 and forecasted to pose an ominous threat with long range torpedoes by the 1960s, the US Navy - at the helm of Admiral Burke - found a solution to the problem in a combination of two "stand-off" weapon systems called DASH and ASROC.

DASH  was a 900 lb coaxial drone helicopter with an ASW (anti-submarine warfare) range of 22 miles. ASROC  was also an ASW system for a 1-5 mile range that launched a solid-fuel rocket which carried a torpedo or depth-bomb payload.  While both DASH and ASROC delivered the same weapon (MK-44 Torpedo) DASH was special in that it could be re-called if the target turned out to be friendly.

FRAM was not a simple process as it involved reconstruction of 3 classes of destroyers, 3 classes of Destroyer Escorts, and the Destroyer Tenders that would keep those destroyers armed and supplied. Occurring in the late 1950s to mid-1960s, the rebuild was not only different per class of ships, but the installation (known as FRAM I) or just a modernization (known as FRAM II) could be different within a specific class as well. Furthermore, while many ships received FRAM, not all received DASH while others received DASH and ASROC.

The three main destroyer types that received FRAM reconstruction were the Fletcher, Sumner and Gearing classes. The FRAM I destroyer not only had its hull and machinery re-furbished, but a new superstructure was installed as well - a reconstruction that took about 9 months to complete. FRAM II was only a modernization - which  took about 7 months. By 1965, 168 destroyers had received FRAM reconstruction / modernization.

Fletcher Destroyers and FRAM

The first destroyer to carry the operational DASH system was DD-531 USS Hazelwood - a Fletcher Class ship. However, she did not receive FRAM but was only the prototype DASH ship for DASH trials in 1958. Only three other Fletcher Class destroyers received official FRAM II overhaul. They were DD-446 USS Radford (completed November 1960), DD-447 USS Jenkins (completed January 1961) and DD-449 USS Nicholas (completed July1960). After getting the FRAM II, two ships further had installed the Variable Depth Sonar. They were  Jenkins (February 1962) and Radford (February 1963). To save top-side weight the three ships lost all their Bofors and Oerlikon AA guns as well as all the 21" twin torpedo tubes.

Fletcher Class specifications