The Clemson class was a series of 156 destroyers (six more were cancelled and never begun) built at the end of World War I, the majority of which served with the United States Navy from after World War I and through World War II.

The Clemson-class ships were commissioned by the United States Navy from 1919 to 1922, built by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, New York Shipbuilding Corporation, William Cramp & Sons, Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Bath Iron Works, some quite rapidly. The Clemson class was a minor redesign of the Wickes class for greater fuel capacity and was the last pre-World War II class of flush-deck destroyers to be built for the United States. Until the Fletcher-class destroyer, the Clemsons were the most numerous class of destroyers commissioned in the United States Navy and were known colloquially as "flush-deckers", "four-stackers" or "four-pipers".

As finally built, the Clemson class would be a fairly straightforward expansion of the Wickes-class destroyers. While the Wickes class had given good service there was a desire to build a class more tailored towards the anti-submarine role, and as such several design studies were completed, mainly about increasing the ships' range. These designs included a reduction in speed to between 26–28 knots (48–52 km/h; 30–32 mph) by eliminating two boilers, freeing up displacement for depth charges and more fuel. This proposal foreshadowed the destroyer escorts of World War II.

Upgrading the gun armament from 4-inch (102 mm) to 5-inch (127 mm) guns was also considered, but only five ships (DD-231 to DD-235) were armed with 5-inch guns. In addition, the tapered stern of the Wickes-class destroyers resulted in a large turning radius and a correction to this defect was also sought, although this was not corrected in the final design. In the end the General Board decided the 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) speed be retained so as to allow the Clemson class to be used as a fleet escort. The pressing need for destroyers overruled any change that would slow production compared to the proceeding Wickes class. Wing tanks for fuel oil were installed on either side of the ships to increase the operational range. This design choice meant the fuel oil would be stored above the waterline and create additional vulnerability, but the Navy felt a 4,900-nautical-mile (9,100 km; 5,600 mi) range was worth the risk. Additional improvements included provisions for 5-inch guns to be installed at a later date, an enlarged rudder to help reduce the turn radius, and an additional 3-inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft gun on the after deck-house.

The class resulted from a General Board recommendation for further destroyers to combat the submarine threat, culminating in a total of 267 Wickes- and Clemson-class destroyers completed. However, the design of the ships remained optimized for operation with the battleship fleet.

The main armament was the same as the Wickes class: four 4-inch (102 mm)/50 caliber guns and twelve 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. The Mark 8 torpedo was initially equipped, and probably remained the standard torpedo for this class, as 600 Mark 8 torpedoes were issued to the British in 1940 as part of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement.

Although the design provided for two anti-aircraft (AA) guns, most ships carried a single 3-inch (76 mm)/23 caliber AA gun, typically on the aft deckhouse. A frequent modification was replacing the aft 4-inch gun with the 3-inch gun to make more room for the depth charge tracks. Anti-submarine (ASW) armament was added during or after construction. Typically, two depth charge tracks were provided aft, along with a Y-gun depth charge projector forward of the aft deckhouse.

Despite the provision for 5-inch guns, only seven ships were built with an increased gun armament. USS Hovey and USS Long had twin 4-inch/50 mounts for a total of eight guns, while DD 231–235 had four 5-inch (127 mm)/51 caliber guns in place of the 4-inch guns.