The Charles F. Adams class was based on a stretched Forrest Sherman-class destroyer hull modified to accommodate an RUR-5 ASROC Launcher and all their associated equipment.

The turbines were intended to produce 70,000 shaft horsepower (52,000 kW) to reach the designed speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph).

The primary armament of the ships was the Tartar surface-to-air missile designed to defend the carrier battle group.

[2] The ship was named for Admiral Günther Lütjens, who commanded a battlegroup comprising the Bismarck and the cruiser Prinz Eugen during Operation Rheinübung (Exercise Rhine).

Lütjens was killed when Bismarck was surrounded by overwhelming British naval force on 27 May 1941 in the North Atlantic.