Charles F. Adams (DDG-2)

The Charles F. Adams class was the US Navy's first destroyer class designed and constructed from the outset as guided-missile destroyers. USS Charles F. Adams, DDG-2, represented a step beyond converted gun destroyers because missiles, sensors, and command systems were integrated into the design from the start. The class later served with the United States, Australia, Germany, and Greece.

The class retained destroyer speed and gun armament while adding a Tartar surface-to-air missile system for fleet air defense. It also carried anti-submarine weapons and sensors, making it a multi-role Cold War escort. Compared with later Aegis ships, its missile and radar systems were limited, but the class established the guided-missile destroyer as a standard surface combatant type.

Charles F. Adams-class ships served through much of the Cold War, and related Lütjens-class ships gave West Germany a similar guided-missile destroyer capability. Their long careers show how early missile destroyers remained useful as fleet escorts even after missile, radar, and electronic-warfare technology advanced rapidly. The class is a key marker in the shift from gun destroyers to missile-era surface fleets.