Editing Gearing-class destroyer (section)

== FRAM I upgrade ==
[[File:Gearing class destroyers before and after FRAM modernization.jpg|thumb|{{USS|Sarsfield|DD-837|2}} (top) as delivered and {{USS|Rowan|DD-782|2}} (bottom) after FRAM I.]]
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, 79 of the ''Gearing''-class destroyers underwent extensive modernization overhauls, known as [[FRAM I]], which were designed under project [[Ship Characteristics Board|SCB 206]]{{sfn|Friedman|2004|pp=285}} to convert them from an anti-aircraft destroyer to an anti-submarine warfare platform. FRAM I removed all of the DDR and DDE equipment, and these ships were redesignated as DDs. FRAM I and FRAM II conversions were completed 1960–1965. Eventually all but three ''Gearing''s received FRAM conversions.<ref>Gardiner and Chumbley, pp. 562-563</ref>

The FRAM I program was an extensive conversion for the ''Gearing''-class destroyers. This upgrade included rebuilding the ship's superstructure, electronic systems, radar, sonar, and weapons. The second twin 5-inch gun mount and all previous AA guns and ASW equipment were removed. On several ships the two forward 5-inch mounts remained and the aft 5-inch mount was removed. Upgraded systems included [[SQS-23]] sonar, [[SPS-10]] surface search radar, two triple [[Mark 32 torpedo tubes]], an 8-cell Anti-Submarine Rocket ([[ASROC]]) box launcher, and one [[QH-50C DASH]] ASW drone helicopter, with its own landing pad and [[hangar]]. Both the Mk 32 torpedo tubes and ASROC launched [[Mark 44 torpedo|Mk. 44 homing ASW torpedoes]]. ASROC could also launch a [[nuclear depth charge]]. On 11 May 1962, {{USS|Agerholm|DD-826|2}} tested a live nuclear ASROC in the "[[Operation Dominic|Swordfish]]" test.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gyrodynehelicopters.com/fram.htm |title=FRAM |publisher=Gyrodynehelicopters.com |date=1962-09-01 |access-date=2012-08-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last1 = Gardiner| first1 = Robert| last2 = Chumbley| first2 = Stephen | title = Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995 | publisher = Conway Maritime Press | year = 1995 | location = London| pages = [https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds00gard/page/n220 213]–217, 240–245 | url =https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds00gard| url-access = limited| isbn = 1-55750-132-7 }}</ref><ref name=Register1>{{cite book| last = Bauer| first = K. Jack|author2=Roberts, Stephen S. | title = Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants | publisher = Greenwood Press | year = 1991 | location = [[Westport, Connecticut]] | pages = 201–206 | isbn = 0-313-26202-0 }}</ref>

In Navy slang, the modified destroyers were called "FRAM cans", "can" being a contraction of "tin can", the slang term for a destroyer or destroyer escort.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

The [[Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH|Gyrodyne QH-50C DASH]] was an unmanned anti-submarine helicopter, controlled remotely from the ship. The drone could carry two Mark 44 homing ASW torpedoes. During this era the ASROC system had an effective range of only {{convert|5|nmi|lk=in}}, but the DASH drone allowed the ship to deploy ASW attack to sonar contacts as far as {{cvt|22|nmi}} away.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gyrodynehelicopters.com/qh-50c1.htm |title=QH-50C |publisher=Gyrodynehelicopters.com |access-date=2012-08-17}}</ref> However, DASH proved unreliable in shipboard service, with over half of the USN's 746 drones lost at sea. This was possibly due to inadequate maintenance support, as other services had few difficulties with DASH. By 1970, DASH had been withdrawn from FRAM I ships, though it was retained into the early 1970s on FRAM II ships, which lacked ASROC. A limitation of drones in ASW was the need to re-acquire the target at ranges beyond the effectiveness of the controlling ship's sonar. This led to shift to the [[LAMPS]] program of manned helicopters, which the ''Gearing'' class were too small to accommodate.{{sfn|Friedman|2004|pp=282–283}}

An upgraded version of DASH, QH-50D, remained in use by the [[United States Army]] until May 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gyrodynehelicopters.com/gyrodyne_today.htm |title=Gyrodyne Today |publisher=Gyrodynehelicopters.com |date=2006-05-09 |access-date=2012-08-17}}</ref>

FRAM I "A" Ships: (First 8 conversions) Removal of aft twin 5-inch gun mount (Mount 53). Group A ships also received two MK10/11 Hedgehogs fitted on each side of the bridge at the 01 level and had the MK-32 triple torpedo launchers aft of the second stack. FRAM I "B" Ships (remainder of conversions): Kept their forward 5-inch mount (Mount 51), lost the second mount (Mount 52) and kept their aft 5-inch mount (Mount 53). In place of mount 52, a practice 5-inch reloading machine was installed with the MK-32 triple torpedo launchers aft of the loader. Group B ships also received greater ASROC and torpedo storage areas next to the port side of the DASH hangar.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/dd-710-mods.htm|title=DD-710 Gearing-class|first=John|last=Pike|website=www.globalsecurity.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/helpers/fram.htm|title=Special Feature - FRAM|website=www.navsource.org}}</ref>