List of destroyers of the United States Navy

DD

Destroyer

DL

Destroyer Leader (later Frigate) (retired)

DDG

Destroyer, Guided Missile

FFG

Frigate, Guided Missile (abolished 30 June 1975)

FFGN

Frigate, Guided Missile, Nuclear-Propulsion (abolished 30 June 1975)

These destroyer types are listed in other articles.

• DE: Destroyer escorts:

List of destroyer escorts of the United States Navy

• DM: Destroyer minelayers:

List of mine warfare vessels of the United States Navy § Light minelayers (DM)

• DMS: Destroyer minesweepers:

List of mine warfare vessels of the United States Navy § High speed/Destroyer minesweepers (DMS)

• APD: High-speed transports, destroyers converted to land Marines ashore:

List of United States Navy amphibious warfare ships § High-speed transport (APD)

• AVD: Destroyer seaplane tenders:

List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy § Destroyer seaplane tenders (AVD)

The DL category was established in 1951, with the abolition of the experimental CLK category. CLK-1 became DL-1 and DDs 927–930 became DLs 2–5. By the mid-1950s the term destroyer leader had been dropped in favor of frigate. The DLG sequence was deactivated in the 1975 fleet realignment, most DLGs and DLGNs were reclassified as CGs and CGNs, 30 June 1975. However, DLG 6–15 became DDG 37–46. DL-1 through DL-5 had been decommissioned prior to this time; DLG-6 Farragut through DLG-15 Preble became DDG-37 through DDG-46. DLG-16 Leahy through DLGN-40 Mississippi became CG-16 through CGN-40.

The guided missile destroyer sequence has three irregularities: four DDGs are numbered as if they were Destroyers in the main sequence (DDG-993, -994, -995 and -996), two were redesignated as guided missile cruisers (CG) (DDG-47 and DDG-48), and two numbers were skipped (DDG-49 and DDG-50). The Zumwalt class picks up at DDG-1000.