Calling all Fletcher-class (DD-445) fans

[Jimmy Conway]

Hi Dick and Rick, thank you very much for kind reply and answer for my question. I can understand the nice explanation and accept it.
Is there any source in the web or any book that relates all you have explained? I would thank again if you can direct me it.

Rick, the pics for DD 794 and 685 are very nice, and yes, Timmy is right, because in the pier, there is a quintuple torpedo mount being delivered to the ship.

Jimmy

[Jimmy Conway]

Some Fletchers in the 60's and 70"s were fitted with sonar an/sqs 29.
Does anybody please have images of this sonar dome?
I made an extent search in the web , but I've got nothing, nothing in the Navsource, and either images from Google, or books....
Read here about my research: http://www.naval.com.br/ngb/S/S006/S006.htm

Thanks in advance: Jimmy

Any answer reffering to an/sqs 29 sonar?
Jimmy

[Red Devil Squadron]

Hello,

I'm seeking some information on the early Federal built Fletchers - DD445 - DD448. I have the Revell 1/144 Fletcher kit and I understand from information already posted here that this kit is only accurate for these few early Federal built Fletchers and then only for a short time period.

First question - is the 5" shell ejector chute on the rear of the kit turrets correct for these early Fletchers or should there be a hatch at the rear of the turret and no chute? Second question - were any of these early Federal Fletchers painted in MS 21 or MS 22 during the first few months before they were first modified?

In other words, would it be accurate to build one of these early Fletchers in MS 21 or MS 22 from the Revell kit?

Thank You!

[les]

From the photos I have, it would appear that all had them. If you want to be accurate, pay close attention to the after deckhouse. It's incomplete and has a molding error on the 40 mm shell chutes.

[Rick E Davis]

Red,

The answer to that question as it almost always is ... it depends. I have only seen the handful of FLETCHERS with just ONE twin 40-mm installed in the tall original "tub" intended for a quad 1.1-in mount (DD-445, 446, 447, and 448) were painted in Ms 12. After the fantail twin 40-mm mount was added, these ships were painted in Ms 22 and/or Ms 21 (and maybe in Ms 18). However, the three BIW-built FLETCHERS completed with a quad 1.1-in mount (DD-449, 450, and 451) were painted in various patterns ... DD-449 and 450 were in Ms 12, Ms 18 and Ms 21. DD-451 was in Ms 12, Ms 22 and Ms 21. BUT, the Revell kit does NOT include the fantail twin 40-mm mount or a quad 1.1-in mount. An after-market manufacture is I believe planning on providing several upgrades for the 1/144 scale kit.

[Red Devil Squadron]

Thanks Les and Rick for your help. I do appreciate the assistance that is so readily offered here. At this point, I am reluctant to start another project that involves extensive scratch building and would rather do something more "out of the box" with some modest extras. I am certainly not ready for another major surgery like I did with DD-691 Mertz from the Lindberg kit. I want to use the Revell kit to do an early Fletcher, but not in the MS 12 dabble pattern. As a compromise, I will probably go with Chevalier in MS 22 and scratch build the 1.1 quad. In addition, I think I will remove the shell ejection chute from the rear of the 5" gun mounts. Based on the photos appearing on page 20 and 70 of my Fletcher Plan Book, these early ships did not have these. I think these modifications along with the corrections mentioned by Les and some other minor changes should result in an accurate representation of DD-451 from the Revell kit or am I missing something?

Many thanks,

Bill
Red Devil Squadron

[Rick E Davis]

Bill,

Actually, although true that these early ships were completed/delivered without the shell chutes ... they had them installed shortly afterwards. I have added some images of Chevalier and her sister O'Bannon. Chevalier was painted in Ms 22 when she served as an escort to a North Africa convoy. When she left for the Pacific at the end of December 1942, I don't know what camo she was painted in ... Ms 21 or Ms 22. She did receive a seventh 20-mm gun on an elevated platform just before the bridge.

DD-452 Chevalier on 24 October 1942 after she got her Mk 51 director and just prior to her convoy escort duties for the North Africa invasion. She does have chutes on her 5-in mounts at this time.




DD-451 Chevalier on 15 August 1943.


DD-450 O'Bannon in January 1943.

[Red Devil Squadron]

Rick,

Thanks for the great photos! This clears up my confusion about the shell ejector chutes. Seems that the Revell kit turrets can be modified to depict Chevalier by moving the ladder from the side to the rear and removing the blast hoods from the two main deck turrets. I like the MS 22 paint scheme of Chevalier on the 24 Oct 1942 photo - it is exactly what I was looking for. Just need to add the quad 1.1 along with a few other hopefully small fixes to make the Revell kit into Chevalier as seen in this photo.

Many thanks for your help!

Bill

[Thundergrunt]

Greetings all new ship guy here i just picked up the trumpy 1/350 Fletcher class DD, and I want to Build the USS.Watts DD-567 (It's my last name) anyway i cannot find any pictures of her really found one but it was in the middle of 2 other can you WWII buffs help a new guy out thanks in advance..

[Timmy C]

Here's the only one of her on Navsource in WWII guise: http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/0556708.jpg

[Rick E Davis]

Watts (DD-567) built by Sea-Tac was the 161 Fletcher commissioned and was not upgraded to the Anti-Kamikaze mod during her career. Although, she did get upgraded with quad 40-mm mounts in the 1950's along with hedgehogs and a tripod foremast. So, for a WWII configuration you will want to use the five twin 40-mm mount option of the Trumpeter kit. She was commissioned with the dazzle scheme that Timmy pointed out. For absolute accuracy, a few things may need to be made to the kit parts ... example, the Sea-Tac built ships had "round" shaped tubs for the forward twin 40-mm mounts and the amidships 20-mm bulwarks were not attached to the amidships twin 40-mm clipping rooms.

By the end of the war, Watts (DD-567) was repainted into Ms 21 as seen in this August 1945 image. It is interesting that you can make out some of the dazzle scheme as the overcoat for Ms 21 has been worn off.


DD-567 Watts on 28 April 1955.

[Thundergrunt]

Thank you guys very much i appreciate it.

[Secondo]

If you want to represent her in camouflage, Shipcamouflage.com has the plate showing the master pattern of Ms 31/11d that Watts carried before to receive Ms 21

http://www.shipcamouflage.com/DesignShe ... DD-445.jpg

[Mc Fly]

Hi all,

i need to know the period how this camouflage must used:



very thanks

[Secondo]

Bonsoir Guillaume
d'apr�s ce qu'on peut voir dans cette page http://www.shipcamouflage.com/fletcher_class.htm, le Fletcher lui-meme a port� ce camouflage, qui est une Measure 12-modified, pendant l'ann�e 1942; mais il semble, plus pr�cisement, qu'il n'a gard� ce sch�ma que pendant les essais en mer et l'entrainement: d�s qu'il fut envoy� dans le Pacifique, il re�ut sa Measure 21 en bleu uniforme. Tu pourrais consulter aussi pour avoir plus de r�f�rences la page de Navsource qui lui est dedi�e: http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/445.htm
Il faut aussi noter que ce mod�le de Tamiya offre un canon antia�rien double de 40 mm mod�le Bofors, tandis que dans cette p�riode le Fletcher embarquait plus vraisemblablement le vieux complexe � 4 tubes de 28 mm (1.1 ")

For the readers from the rest of the world: I wrote that Fletcher carried her Measure 12 mod. only during her trials and shakedown cruise, and that when se got into action she was already been repainted in Measure 21. I also remembered that during that period the Bofors wasn't there, there was the 1.1" instead.
Had I written something false?

[Rick E Davis]

The only correction is that FLETCHER didn't have the quad 1.1-in mount installed. She was delivered to the USN without any mount installed and had the single twin 40-mm mount installed at New York Navy Yard a few days later. Only NICHOLAS, O'BANNON, and CHEVALIER (DD449-451) had the quad 1.1-in mount installed and operated with it into late 1943.

When FLETCHER was in Ms 21, she had the fantail twin 40-mm mount installed.

[Dick J]

I also remembered that during that period the Bofors wasn't there, there was the 1.1" instead.
Had I written something false?

While the Fletcher's were designed with the 1.1" mount, only Nicholas, O'Bannon and Chevalier actually had it installed during any period of active service. These three were the first Fletcher's to be built by Bath Iron Works, in Maine. Being further from the point of manufacture for the Bofors mounts, Bath did not receive 40MM in time for these three. Fletcher, herself, was built by Federal Shipbuilding in New Jersey, and was actually completed after the Nicholas and O'Bannon had commissioned. She had the twin 40MM installed very shortly after commissioning. I suppose that the 1.1 could possibly have been installed for a brief period during construction (no photos or documentation show this, so this is just speculation on a possibility), but on commissioning day, the tub was empty.

[Mc Fly]

Bonsoir Guillaume
d'apr�s ce qu'on peut voir dans cette page http://www.shipcamouflage.com/fletcher_class.htm, le Fletcher lui-meme a port� ce camouflage, qui est une Measure 12-modified, pendant l'ann�e 1942; mais il semble, plus pr�cisement, qu'il n'a gard� ce sch�ma que pendant les essais en mer et l'entrainement: d�s qu'il fut envoy� dans le Pacifique, il re�ut sa Measure 21 en bleu uniforme. Tu pourrais consulter aussi pour avoir plus de r�f�rences la page de Navsource qui lui est dedi�e: http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/445.htm
Il faut aussi noter que ce mod�le de Tamiya offre un canon antia�rien double de 40 mm mod�le Bofors, tandis que dans cette p�riode le Fletcher embarquait plus vraisemblablement le vieux complexe � 4 tubes de 28 mm (1.1 ")

For the readers from the rest of the world: I wrote that Fletcher carried her Measure 12 mod. only during her trials and shakedown cruise, and that when se got into action she was already been repainted in Measure 21. I also remembered that during that period the Bofors wasn't there, there was the 1.1" instead.
Had I written something false?

Very thanks for this pressision, but the black and white picture show all fletcher's class in light grey !

what think about light grey ?

Guillaume

[Secondo]

Very thanks for this pressision, but the black and white picture show all fletcher's class in light grey !

what think about light grey ?

Guillaume

Undated pictures often refer to the postwar period, when all ships reverted to the pre-war overall haze gray Measure. Tamiya's Measure 12-modified scheme is correct for the second half of 1942; if you want to represent Fletcher in the haze gray Measure, you will have to modify many features, radars, armament and structures.

Il y a des photos sans date o� on voit le Fletcher en gris clair uniforme, mais ces photos font r�f�rence � la p�riode de l'apr�s-guerre o� tous les navires furent repeint de cette fa�on: pendant la guerre, le Fletcher ne fut jamais peint ainsi; si le sch�ma en gris clair t'int�resse, il faudrait que tu fasses des modifications assez importantes au mod�le.

[Hanchang Kuo]

Greetings all,

I am looking for good pictures of 1960s Fletcher DDE ships. I've collected all DDE ships' pictures from Navsource plus a few more fom other sites. Still there are many details I couldn't figure out from those pictures-- for example unrep equipment arrangement, various lockers and deck equipments, etc. I could really use some helps if you know of any good reference on Fletcher DDEs.

Thanks in advance,