Due to the regulations of the London Naval Treaty, these 13 ships had a displacement of 1,850 tons, compared to the 1,500 tons of a "standard" destroyer, but they were still classed as destroyers and carried the hull classification of (DD).

When the treaty ended with the outbreak of World War II in Europe in 1939, the much larger Fletcher class was constructed, making the differentiation irrelevant.

Following the war, destroyer leader (DL) was a new hull classification symbol used by the U.S. Navy from the 1950s until 1975.

Eight of these ships would be nuclear powered and hold the hull classification (DLGN).

At the same time the smaller destroyer escorts (DE or DEG) were reclassified as 'frigates' (FF or FFG) and so US terminology was brought into line with that of the other NATO members.