Sentorasia

The first picture is not taken from the Gleaves-class destroyer USS Aaron Ward (DD-483), which sunk off Guadalcanal. The vessel in the picture is the third ship named USS Aaron Ward (DM-34), which was a Robert H. Smith-class destroyer minelayer/minesweeper actually. The Robert H. Smith-class destroyers were originally from the Allen M. Sumner-class, but during construction, they were modified to carry minelaying equipment instead of torpedo launchers and these ships became a new class. That initial picture was taken from the USS Aaron Ward (DM-34) after a serious kamikaze attack on 30 April 1945.