Confederate Navy Destroyers
CSS William W. J. Kelly class Destroyer
In 1938, the Confederate Admiralty would order the construction of a class of ocean going destroyers meant to accompany the planned Jefferson Davis class Battleships deep into the Atlantic. The said class (Project 644) was to have 10 ships in it, which the armament was to be three dual mount turrets of automatic 5' guns, two quad tubed torpedo launchers, and numerous small caliber AA guns. The first four ships would be laid down at the Charleston Electric Boat Company on August 1, 1938, two more would be laid down at Norfolk on September 4, 1938, and the last four laid down at the Mobile Naval Arsenal on September 10, 1938. The first ship, CSS William W. J. Kelly was launched on June 19th, 1940 and commissioned on July 26th, 1941, the other members of the class would be the Rourke, James A. Peterson, and Paul S. Kinsley from Charleston, the CSS Thompson and Robert M. Jackson from Norfolk, and finally Xavier C. LePoint, Cox, Garcia, and Timothy W. Brown from Mobile. Throughout the war, the class would see heavy use, and only two of the ships, CSS Thompson and CSS Rourke would survive the war, with the remainder being lost during the war either to enemy action, friendly fire (as was the case with the CSS Garcia when she was sunk by Confederate Air Force Asskickers in late 1943), or were damaged beyond repair (CSS Cox and Robert M. Jackson would both be damaged during the Superbombing of Charleston, which both of them would be abandoned and eventually be scuttled in 1945.) The CSS Thompson would be retained by the US Navy as the USS Thompson and used until 1954 as a training vessel. While the CSS Rourke was awarded to Texas and renamed the Crockett, which served with the Texan Navy until 1962, when she was donated for preservation as a Museum Ship in Houston, and is now the only surviving Confederate surface warship.
CSS R. J. Vickers class Destroyer
Around the same time as Project 644 was being considered for construction, the Admiralty would authorize the construction of the 14 ships belonging to a class of destroyers that were designed for operations in the Caribbean. The ships were to constructed at both the United Steel Shipyard and the Galveston Shipyard. The class was to be built to the specification of Project 455, which was to be armed with three single mount 5' guns, two triple torpedo tubes, one 40mm AA gun, and two 20mm AA guns. The first ship, CSS R. J. Vickers, was launched on April 9th, 1940 and was commissioned on March 29th, 1941. When the 2nd Great War commenced, three ships of the class, the Vickers, Onslow, and William T. Glassell would be completed, the Glassell was at New Orleans whereas the other two members were at the Bahamas. The CSS Onslow would be lost at the Bahamas when she struck a naval mine near Chub Cay while carrying some Marines to secure the island. The other ships of the class would be the Richard S. Smith, Morris, Rawlings, Terry M. Dorlitz, Howard Kiss, Hammond, Truxtun, Thomas B. Huger, Randall L. Lowell, James P. Anderson, and Edward Hubbard. The ships would see service throughout the war, many of them would be sent out to the Atlantic, an area of where they were not designed to operate in. All of them would be lost during the war, the Edward Hubbard and Thomas B. Huger would both be lost on June 1st, 1944 in the last surface engagement of the war.
CSS Eagle class Destroyer
In 1935, the Confederate Admiralty would 8 destroyers under the Project 606 specification, which was similar in all respects to the British D & E class destroyers* that were being constructed at the time. The original armament of the destroyers were three single mount 5' guns, two triple mount torpedo launchers, one 25mm AA gun, and four 13mm AA machine guns, the armament would be upgraded during before and during the war. In addition to the 8 ships being built for the Confederacy, 4 ships would additionally be constructed for the Imperial Mexican Navy starting in 1936. The first ship would launched in May of 1937 as the CSS Eagle, which it's sisterships would the Hawk, Falcon, Vulture, Condor, Buzzard, Osprey, and Kingfisher, all of the ships would be commissioned into the fleet by June of 1939. In March of 1941, the CSS Hawk and CSS Condor would be modified to carry mine laying equipment as they were reclassified as Minelaying Destroyers. These two ships would go on to lay mine in the water around Norfolk, Virginia and also along the coastlines of Delaware, Virginia, the Bahamas, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The other destroyers would serve in various operations during the war, such the invasion of the Bahamas and Bermuda. From October of 1942 onwards, the CSS Falcon would be posted to Tampa, Florida where it protected the harbor until war's end. The CSS Falcon, Hawk, and Osprey would be the only members of the class to survive the war. Which the Falcon would be scrapped in Delaware in late 1944 whereas the Hawk and Osprey would both be used to clear mines in the American Coastal Waters as part of the Confederate Mine Clearing Force from late 1944 to the summer of 1947. Afterwards, both of them would be sold to shipbreakers in Mobile Alabama.
* = Similar to the OTL G&H class Destroyer
CSS John Y. Beall class Destroyer
In 1932 following a debate within the Admiralty, it was decided to construct two different classes of destroyers with 10 ship for each class. One of them, was Project 27, which was to be armed with 5 single mount 5' guns, two triple mount torpedo tubes, and several smaller caliber AA guns. The first ships would be laid down at the Mobile Naval Arsenal in September of 1932 with the first ships being launched in July of 1935, and first commissioning in 1937. The class members were the John Y. Beall, Johnathan R. Walsh, Tuner Ashby, Douglas H. Cooper, Melvin P. Dickerson, Herman Cumming, Alfred K. Powers, Robert R. Carter, Emerson, and Judah P. Benjamin. Throughout their careers, the ships would serve with the Confederate Atlantic Fleet, in which they would battle the Union Navy during the Battle of the Atlantic throughout the war. The sole surviving member of the class was the CSS Robert R. Carter, which was captured with the other Confederate Ships at Tampa Bay at war's end. It was used by the Confederate Mine Clearing Force as a minesweeper tender until June of 1947, when it was ultimately sold for scrapping in Delaware.
CSS George E. Pickett class Flotilla Leader
In 1932, the Confederate Admiralty would order into construction the Flotilla Leader class following the Project 1233 specification. The armament included 4 single mount 5' guns, two triple mount torpedo tubes, three 25mm AA guns, and four 13mm AA machine guns. The first ship, the CSS George E. Pickett would be launched on December 29th, 1934 and would be commissioned on November 30th, 1936. It's sisterships would be the Clifton R. Beckingridge, Franklin A. Gutterborough, Albert Pike, John H. Kelly, and Thomas S. Schofield. Like the John Y. Beall class, these were ships that were intended to serve in the Atlantic alongside larger Confederate Warships. One ship would be constructed for the Imperial Mexican Navy starting in 1934 and delivered in 1938, but as a Large Destroyer. Sometime during the summer of 1940, all of the ships in the class were reclassified as destroyers. Throughout the war, the ships would see service and would be upgraded. A depiction of the CSS George E. Pickett shown here shows her following her February of 1943 refit, which had one of her torpedo launchers removed, her AA capacity increased, and also equipped with new anti-submarine radar. The same ship would be notable for single handedly taking one the Union light cruiser USS Detroit and causing severe damage to the cruiser. Ultimately, the CSS G.E. Pickett would be captured at Tampa Bay at War's end along with her sistership the J. H. Kelly, and they would both be scrapped at Mobile in the late 1940s.
CSS Tucker class Destroyer = Same as the OTL Wicher class Destroyer of the Polish Navy
Following the First Great War, the Confederate Destroyer Fleet would be reduced to 13 ships to meet the terms of the Treaty of Philadelphia of 1918. During the 1920s, the Confederate Admiralty would be making designs for a new generation of destroyers for it's fleet. The ultimate destroyer design would Project 438, which was similar in design and specification to the French Bourrasque class Destroyer. Construction of these destroyers would begin in May of 1929 with a total of 12 ship being ordered, 5 each being constructed at the United Steel Shipyard and the Mobile Naval Arsenal, the remainder being constructed at the Galveston Shipbuilding Company, a subsidiary of the Tredegar Steel Works. The first ship, the CSS Tucker, would be launched on April 1st, 1931 and be commissioned on July 4th, 1932. The following ships would be the Powell, Horace L. Hunley, James P. Simms, John Thatcher, Thomas D. Squire, Kingston, Andersen, William Steele, Glenn, Rodger Sanders, Ezra L. Lawson, and Arnold J. Holmes. In addition, the Confederacy would also build 5 of these ships for the Mexican Navy and two for the Brazilian Navy. During the 2nd Great War, 6 of the ships within the class would operate as escorts for merchant ships to defend against Union submarines while the other half would serve in offensive operations. In June of 1942 while operating off the coast of Delaware, three of the ships, the Andersen, Glenn, and James P. Simms would be lost as a result of both miscommunication and general confusion while they sailed in heavy fog, which resulted them in being ingloriously destroyed by Confederate Sea Mines. Later that month, the CSS Powell would be sunk alongside the CSS Alabama by the Union Battleship USS Montana. The remaining ships would all eventually be destroyed in the last weeks of the war while defending the coastal cities of Wilmington, New Orleans, and Mobile from advancing Union forces.
CSS Coyote class Light Destroyer
In the years following the First Great War, the Admiralty was working on breaching the Naval Armaments Treaty forced upon it by the Union. One of the first warships to be built for the Confederate Navy was the Coyote class, which was based off of Late-War destroyer designs. The design called for two 4 inch main guns with two 3.7 inch guns to either side of the side, two 75mm M1915 AA guns, four 7.7mm AA machine-guns, and two twin torpedo launchers. By 1928, all 6 ships of the class, Coyote, Wolf, Jackal, Bear, Ferret, and Fox would all be commissioned. These ships would be reclassified as Light Destroyers upon the commissioning of the first ships of the Tucker class Destroyer in 1932. For most of the 2nd Great War, these destroyers would serve to protect and patrol the entrances of important harbors from Union submarines and motor torpedo boats. In 1944, these ships would make a futile effort to defend Confederate Waters from the much superior Union Navy. At war's end, two of the ships, the CSS Fox and CSS Ferret would survive the war, and would both be sold to scrap in 1945 to breakers in Galveston, Texas.
CSS Wrigley class Torpedo Boat
Following the First Great War and the Scuttling of the Confederate High Seas Fleet in the Bahamas, their destroyer fleet would be drastically be reduced in size. In planning in building it up again, the Confederate Admiralty would order the construction of 6 six ships following the Project 56 specification, was essentially a development of Wartime designs. The armament was to be two 95mm deck guns, a 75mm AA gun, four 7.7mm AA machine guns, and two dual torpedo launchers. Construction would start on this class in 1925 and the first ship would be launched in April of 1926 and commissioned in May of 1927. The ships in the class would the Wrigley, Allen Thomas, Joseph L. Hogg, George McPeak, Peter M. Davis, and Andrew Jones, and the ships would be classified as Torpedo Boats rather than as Destroyers. By late 1940, the Admiralty was considering of retiring them from service and disposing of them, but the outbreak of war would prevent this. During the war, these ships would be used to defend Confederate ports from attacks by Union submarines, and in the waning days of the Confederacy's existence, would be used in the desperate final defense of the country. After the end of the war, the Wrigley, George McPeak, and the Allen Thomas would be used as minesweeper by the Confederate Mine Clearing Force until June of 1947. In late 1947, the three old Torpedo Ships would be sold to ship breakers in Mobile Alabama.
D-1 class Destroyer
The Confederate Admiralty would authorize the construction of 16 ships of the D class of Destroyers in 1904. The original armament for the ships was a 3.7 inch main gun, a 75mm deck gun, and three dual torpedo launchers. During the First Great War, the class would see extensive service in the war, with the loss of 5 ships of the class to Union warships and one being sunk by a Sea Mine off the coast of Virginia. After war's end, the Confederacy would be allowed to retain 8 of the ships for it's navy. By the early 1930s, the ships would be withdrawn to secondary duties, such as harbor patrol, gunnery training, and guardship, evem the CSS D-4 was converted into a controlled target ship. When the 2nd Great War began in 1941, 5 of these ships would remain, and would be used as harbor patrol ships at Confederate ports. When the war ended, these would be broken up for scrap.