American engineers, unlike the Japanese, had a more traditional view of the destroyers’ role and importance. They preferred not to focus on the torpedo armament, but to rely on a versatile and flexible operational use instead. The US Navy destroyers accomplished a variety of tasks, serving as convoy escorts, performing patrol duties, participating in joint actions in a squadron, and providing the submarine and anti-aircraft defense.

　　和日本同行的著眼點(diǎn)不同，美國(guó)工程師對(duì)驅(qū)逐艦的認(rèn)識(shí)比較傳統(tǒng)。因此，美國(guó)驅(qū)逐艦更強(qiáng)調(diào)多功能而非雷擊能力。美國(guó)驅(qū)逐艦可以勝任各種任務(wù)，包括護(hù)航，巡邏，以編隊(duì)形式參與戰(zhàn)斗，以及反潛對(duì)空任務(wù)。

　　The early models of US Navy destroyers had a distinctive, but quite controversial feature—their torpedo tubes were mounted on the broadsides and could not rotate. Most of the enemy destroyers of that time had their torpedo tubes mounted on the centerline. As a result, the U.S. destroyers had more torpedo tubes than their Japanese counterparts, but their broadsides were almost even. By the end of World War I this layout was abandoned, though some traces of the obsolete design may be found in subsequent destroyer classes, such as the Mahan.

　　美國(guó)早期的驅(qū)逐艦有著一個(gè)爭(zhēng)論不斷的特點(diǎn)————她們的魚雷發(fā)射器安放在側(cè)舷，而且不能旋轉(zhuǎn)。而同時(shí)代其他國(guó)家的驅(qū)逐艦采用魚雷中軸線布置的布局了。因此，和日本驅(qū)逐艦相比，美國(guó)驅(qū)逐艦的魚雷發(fā)射管更多，但是每次魚雷發(fā)射數(shù)卻相差無(wú)幾。在一戰(zhàn)結(jié)束后，這種布局被拋棄，不過(guò)我們還能在諸如馬漢級(jí)之類的驅(qū)逐艦上面看到這種布局的影子。

　　All the U.S. ship classes considerably improved their anti-aircraft armament during World War II. The destroyers were no exception—for a long time they carried the most powerful anti-aircraft batteries among their rivals from other countries. At the same time, their torpedo armaments traditionally fell short behind the Japanese design. Despite many successful projects, they failed to reach the characteristics of the famous Type 93 oxygen torpedoes.

　　幾乎所有的美國(guó)軍艦在二戰(zhàn)期間強(qiáng)化了對(duì)空火力，驅(qū)逐艦也不例外————在很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間內(nèi)，他們都搭載著強(qiáng)有力的防空炮。但與此同時(shí)，她們的魚雷裝備則略微落后于日本。盡管有無(wú)數(shù)成功的計(jì)劃，但美國(guó)依然沒有可以和威力巨大の九三式酸素魚雷相匹敵的魚雷。

　　The US Navy destroyers’ research tree begins at Tier II

　　美國(guó)驅(qū)逐艦從2級(jí)開始

　　II Sampson

　　桑普森級(jí)

　　The Sampson was the first U.S. destroyer with a displacement exceeding 1,000 tons. She laid down the guidelines of development for the further generations of destroyers. The Sampson was armed with four torpedo tubes, but as they were mounted on the broadsides, she could only shoot two of them in one salvo. The speed of 30 knots was enough to compensate this shortcoming and allowed for active maneuvering during battles.

　　桑普森級(jí)是美國(guó)第一級(jí)排水量超過(guò)1000噸的驅(qū)逐艦。她為下一代驅(qū)逐艦設(shè)計(jì)提供了一個(gè)基本方向。雖然桑普森級(jí)有4個(gè)魚雷發(fā)射管，但是因?yàn)閭?cè)舷安放的緣故，每次側(cè)舷齊射時(shí)，只能放出2條魚雷。30節(jié)的速度能讓她在戰(zhàn)斗中有靈活的機(jī)動(dòng)，從而彌補(bǔ)很多自身上的不足。