more extensive armament. The flush deck added to the strength, but the number of systems aboard the ship led to a cramped design. Heermann was among the Fletcher-class ships that got a new bridge design. The standard Fletcher-class ship had a standard displacement of and was at full load. The destroyers were long overall and long at the waterline with a beam of and a draft of at full load. The Fletcher class were powered by steam from four Babcock & Wilcox boilers driving two General Electric turbines turning two shafts rated at . The destroyers carried of fuel oil. The ships had a maximum speed of and a range of at . The ships had a complement of 273 officers and enlisted personnel. The class were initially armed with five /38 caliber guns in Mk30 dual-purpose turrets for anti-aircraft and surface warfare, aligned along the centreline. Ten torpedo tubes were also equipped. Four single-mounted guns and four 20 mm cannon were equipped for anti-aircraft (AA) defense. For anti-submarine defense, six depth charge throwers and two depth charge racks were installed. Later, three twin-mounted 40 mm guns and the number of 20 mm cannon increased to eleven on Heermann. This would later change again to five twin 40 mm gun mounts and seven 20 mm cannon. The destroyers also had some armor, with side armor and armor on the decks over the machinery. Service history Heermann was launched on 5 December 1942 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co. of San Francisco, California and sponsored by Mrs. Edward B. Briggs, wife of Lieutenant E. B. Briggs, USCGR, great grandson of the namesake. The destroyer was commissioned on 6 July 1943. After shakedown training out of San Diego, California, Heermann joined the 5th Fleet on 21 October 1943 for Operation Galvanic, the assault on the Gilbert Islands. She arrived off Tarawa in Rear Admiral Harry W. Hill's Southern Attack Force on 20 November. Her guns sank a small enemy craft inside the lagoon and the next two days assisted troops ashore with close-in fire support. With the island secured, she returned to Pearl Harbor for repairs and training which ended on 23 January when she sailed in the screen of an attack transport reserve force. After the American assault on Kwajalein on 31 January Heermann spent two weeks patrolling off the island and operated in the screen of escort carriers which were launching