As the threat from kamikaze aircraft mounted in 1945, and with few remaining Japanese warships to use torpedoes on, most of the class had the aft quintuple 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tube mount replaced by an additional 40 mm quadruple mount (prior to completion on later ships) for 16 total 40 mm guns. The Gearing class was a series of 98 destroyers built for the U.S. Navy during and shortly after World War II. Shipyard Plans for a Gearing-Class Destroyer, 1945 Complete set of nine whiteprint/blueline shipyard plans for the deck and compartment layout of a Gearing-class destroyer, "DD-692 Long Hulls" (a longer-hulled version of the Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer), early 1945, prepared by Todd Pacific Shipyards, Inc, Seattle, titled "Long Hulls DD 692 Compartment Sketch for Hulls DD 782 to 791 inc . Many thanks to Ed Raney of the USS Willard Keith (DD-775) More importantly in the long run, the Gearings' increased size made them much more suitable for upgrades than the Sumners, as seen in the wartime radar picket subclass, the 1950s radar picket destroyer (DDR) and escort destroyer (DDE) conversions, and the Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) conversions 1960-65. The initial design retained the Sumners' heavy torpedo armament of 10 21" (533mm) tubes in two quintuple mounts, firing the Mark 15 torpedo. BuShips - March 30, 1951, 1951 BuShips DD-692 Class tube mountings. // -->