The Ship Model Forum

Does anyone know if there are any photographs of Yorktown in the Atlantic during 1941 except for the aerial shot taken at Norfolk in September, 1941?

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Hi guys,

Still working on the c. 1940 Yorktown. I have a question about the boats that were hung under the flight deck over hang amidships. I have attached a section of the Yorktown class Booklet of General Plans showing the ones I’m talking about. If I understand the drawings correctly, the boats are basically suspended beneath the decks by two block and tackles (red ellipses) per boat.

My question is were they secured by other cables/ropes to prevent them from swinging and bumping into things or were the attaching block and tackle arrangements short enough to allow them to swing while preventing them from bumping into things?

TIA and happy modeling.

Mark B.

Hope this helps.

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Have fun, Monkey around.™

-Steve L.

Complete catalog: - https://www.model-monkey.com/
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Very much so. Thanks Steve. I did not have a good picture of these boats in any of my references and I could not find any on the internets. Where did this come from?

I have one more question, I noticed that the BOGP lists these boats as 30' - 0" sailing whale boat. Are they truly unpowered or did they have a motor?

Thanks again,
Mark B.

Hi Mark,

The photo comes from the National Archives, catalog number 80-G-63560.

The boats in the photo appear to have props but I could be wrong.

Here's another photo showing the configuration of the straps securing the boats.

Hope this helps.

_________________
Have fun, Monkey around.™

-Steve L.

Complete catalog: - https://www.model-monkey.com/
Follow Model Monkey® on Facebook: - https://www.facebook.com/modelmonkeybookandhobby

Thanks Steve.

It helps a lot. I was wondering where they would be positioned in relation to the small deck behind them. Above or below. The picture shows the tops of the boats about in the middle of the chain rails with the bottoms of the hulls just below the deck plate.

It will also give me a use for some of the PE fret frames I have been hording from other builds.

Have a great weekend,
Mark B.

Mark,

Those small boats are probably 26' Motor Whaleboats - a typical small boat carried on almost all WWll classes of ships. Here is a detailed photos of the typ. davit block setup for those boats:

Here is a 26' MWB on davits with covered steel blocks as opposed to the wooden blocks that were common in WWII era:

This photo is from the 1960s era aboard a FLETCHER class DD.

Referring back to your original drawing, I think I would go with (2) dbl wooden blocks for each davit as shown in my first photo. Steve's last photo showing the diagonal bracing is also typ. of the type of tie-downs that were common for those boats in davits.

Hope this helps,

_________________
HMS III
Mocksville, NC
BB62 vet 68-69

Builder's yard:
USS STODDARD (DD-566) 66-68 1:144, Various Lg Scale FC Directors
Finished:
USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 67-69 1:200
USN Sloop/Ship PEACOCK (1813) 1:48
ROYAL CAROLINE (1748) 1:47
AVS (1768) 1:48

BB62vet, is not using davits but block & tackle from the overhead i-beams forming the bottom of the gallery deck as those boats not the bigger ones are suspended past the ship's hull sides. could be using ropes, block & tackle or wooden boat booms to prevent the boats from swinging sideways. have a look at this picture to see what I am talking about.

I'm quite aware that the boats are suspended by block & tackle from the overhead I beams. I simply posted those photos to show the DETAILS OF THE BLOCK & TACKLE used in a typical 26' MWB stowage situation.
The diagonal tie-downs that are shown in Model Monkey's last photo are the usual method for securing those small boats in their stowed positions.

But of course, I could have predicted that the forum troll would have something to complain about.

_________________
HMS III
Mocksville, NC
BB62 vet 68-69

Builder's yard:
USS STODDARD (DD-566) 66-68 1:144, Various Lg Scale FC Directors
Finished:
USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 67-69 1:200
USN Sloop/Ship PEACOCK (1813) 1:48
ROYAL CAROLINE (1748) 1:47
AVS (1768) 1:48

Thanks for the pictures and verifying the use of the two tie downs BB62vet. I'm not so much worried about the block and tackles so much. They will be very small in 1/487 but your picture shows I guessed correctly about placing an engine box amidships on them.

But this does raise another question in my mind, would the boats be pulled into contact with the platform deck plate by the straps?

Thanks again
Mark B.

why would it be pulled in?

Mark,

Refer again to Model Monkey's last photo - if you look real close at the boat's orientation, you'll see that they are slightly pulled in towards the exterior bulkhead of the ship (thus showing the edge of the port side of the boat). That's the effect of the lateral tie-downs. I don't think that the boat keel would be in contact with the deck plates. I'm certainly a novice when it comes to carriers, but small boats of that period were all stowed in similar fashion, whether from davits or overhead tackle (as in this case). I've tried to find photos of this area of WWII era carriers where the boats were stowed but without success.

Hope this helps!

_________________
HMS III
Mocksville, NC
BB62 vet 68-69

Builder's yard:
USS STODDARD (DD-566) 66-68 1:144, Various Lg Scale FC Directors
Finished:
USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 67-69 1:200
USN Sloop/Ship PEACOCK (1813) 1:48
ROYAL CAROLINE (1748) 1:47
AVS (1768) 1:48

Good Day BB62vet,

This helps a lot. I was trying to envision how these boats were secured to keep them from banging into the deck, railings or even the side of the hull in rough weather. I know even big ships can get pretty rambunctious in a strong storm. But what you say makes sense. The straps would pull down against the over head davits and keep the boats from moving side to side or up and down.

Yeah I've not had much luck finding pictures of this area either. Most of the ones I've found were taken too far away to even see the davits and or rigging.

Thanks again
Mark B.

Hi guys,

Another Question if I may...

I’ve been drilling out the portholes on the Revell 1/487 Yorktown kit and I was wondering what size they should be. I’ve been using a .4mm bit and while I was wearing my Opti Visor they seemed to look OK. But when I took the visor off, they seemed very small.

This has made me wonder, what was the actual porthole diameter of the many many portholes on the Yorktown?

I have also realized that there is also a larger size porthole on the bow and island superstructure area. Any idea on what size these were?

Thanks for any thoughts and suggestions.

Mark B.

Hi FFG-7,

I was wondering since the straps seem to be pulling the outsides of the boats down which would cause the keels to swing in towards the deck behind them. I thought that maybe the would be pulled to the point of making contact to the deck, but I see now that if the downward shift was small the keels would not come in contact with the deck but the tension generated on the overhead davits would keep the boats steady.

do you have the Yorktown's Booklet of General Plans?
when drilling the port holes, are you drilling horizontal or perpendicular to that part of the hull?

Mark B wrote:
"I was wondering since the straps seem to be pulling the outsides of the boats down which would cause the keels to swing in towards the deck behind them. I thought that maybe the would be pulled to the point of making contact to the deck, but I see now that if the downward shift was small the keels would not come in contact with the deck but the tension generated on the overhead davits would keep the boats steady."

Again, you're overthinking this whole thing. Your first comment above is correct - the keels will be drawn IN not down. Here is a photo (again, a davited boat but that doesn't matter - the straps in this situation cause the same effect) which shows what we're discussing -


I don't think you have anything to worry about!!!

Re. portholes - the std. USN porthole at that time was either 10" dia. or 12" dia. There were smaller/larger ones, as well.

Hope this helps!

_________________
HMS III
Mocksville, NC
BB62 vet 68-69

Builder's yard:
USS STODDARD (DD-566) 66-68 1:144, Various Lg Scale FC Directors
Finished:
USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 67-69 1:200
USN Sloop/Ship PEACOCK (1813) 1:48
ROYAL CAROLINE (1748) 1:47
AVS (1768) 1:48