They were part of a series of USN destroyers limited to 1,500 tons standard displacement by the London Naval Treaty and built in the 1930s.

[4] The Bagley class destroyers were readily distinguished visually by the prominent external trunking of the boiler uptakes around their single stack.

Mugford and Ralph Talbot, still in commission, were targets during the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests at Bikini atoll in 1946.

The Bagleys were a Navy design that duplicated the machinery of the preceding long-range Mahan class; this led to their prominent boiler uptakes around the single stack that were their main recognition feature.

[7][2][4] Features that improved fuel economy included boiler economizers, double reduction gearing, and cruising turbines.

[10] As with most other US destroyers of this period, the 5-inch guns featured all-angle power loading and were director controlled, making them as effective as the technology allowed against aircraft.

However, in common with all US surface combatants in the 1930s, the light AA armament was weak; only four .50 caliber machine guns (12.7 mm) were equipped.

It was apparently felt that the heavy AA armament would shoot down most incoming aircraft in all situations, but the attack on Pearl Harbor showed that this was not true.

[12] While most American destroyers had some or all torpedo tubes replaced by light AA guns during World War II, the Bagleys did not.

The remaining four Bagleys continued to operate as Destroyer Squadron Six, with Ralph Talbot receiving a kamikaze hit off Okinawa.