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

Provide information about the characteristics of the primary armament. Evaluate their efficacy in battle based on their reload speed, ballistics and the capacity of their shells. Add a link to the main article about the weapon: {{main|Weapon name (calibre)}}. Broadly describe the ammunition available for the primary armament, and provide recommendations on how to use it and which ammunition to choose.

Secondary armament

Some ships are fitted with weapons of various calibres. The definition of secondary armament is the weapon chosen with the control Select secondary weapon. Evaluate the secondary armament and advise about how to use them. Describe the ammunition available for the secondary armament. Provide recommendations on how to use them and which ammunition to choose. Remember that anti-air armament, even heavy calibre weapons, belong in the next section.

Torpedo armament

Torpedoes launchers are standard equipment on many ships and boats. Torpedoes are a significant means of defeating an opponent. Evaluate the position of the torpedo launchers, discuss the ammunition available, firing specifics such as dead zones, features of the torpedoes themselves, etc.

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