 The General Board , whose main concern was the integrated operation of the United States battle fleet , pushed for the design to provide more scouting capabilities for fleet operations . But the high cost of the design — $ 1 @,@ 900 @,@ 000 for hull and machinery vs. $ 790 @,@ 000 for the O 'Brien @-@ class ships — and the lack of operating experience with the Cassin class — the first of the " thousand tonners " ( destroyers exceeding 1 @,@ 000 long tons ( 1 @,@ 020 t ) displacement ) which were just beginning to be launched — caused C & R to resist the much larger design . The Chief Constructor of the Navy , the head of C & R , pointed out that the British had not repeated the Swift design in the five years since her introduction , and noted that " a destroyer that gets too large loses many of the desirable features of the type " . 
