About the
DD-872 USS FORREST ROYAL

The GEARING-class destroyers were basically a stretch-version of the ALLEN M. SUMNER class They were barely distinguishable from their predecessors, unless a GEARING and a SUMNER were side by side. Then, the greater length of the GEARING’s hull amidships was obvious.
The GEARINGs were the last World War II destroyers built by the U.S. Navy, and many of them served well into the 1970s. Stricken from U.S. Navy lists, a number of them continued their service in foreign navies. They survived because they were large enough to adapt to the changing requirements of new weaponry and tactics.
To say they were superb ships is perhaps an understatement.