Greyhounds of the Sea

Jack Webb narrates this short subject about the destroyer in US history, leading up to the launching of the first nuclear-powered ship of the class.

The Navy defines a destroyer as "a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats." They were conceived in the late 19th Century as a response to torpedo boats. The US began producing them in the early years of the 20th Century, and they served in both World Wars and other conflicts, often during a time when there were few other ships of the line available .... after Pearl Harbor, for instance.

Although short of technical information, this short subject stresses the destroyer's capability of being deployed in a wide range of uses. Just like the official Navy definition.

This black and white documentary about the American destroyers is produced by the U. S. Naval Photographic Center for Chief of Information. It's narrated by Jack Webb with his Dragnet voice. It's a lot of real ship footage starting with the supposed first American destroyer USS Bainbridge. It goes through the general progression. The main section has the fight against the Japanese in the Pacific. It ends with a few modern ships in the Korean war. It is very old style. The old pre-WWII photos are interesting. The WWII footage is well worn. The Korean era ships may be interesting at its time although dated by the time of the Vietnam war. It's a 50's military propaganda film as a new conflict approaches.