Calling all USS Barnegat-class seaplane tender (AVP) fans

[NukeMM]

I came across this image, online, today.
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/imag ... 511-26.jpg

It is a drawing for a prospective Submarine Rescue ship (ASR) based on the USS Barnegat class AVP hull. It's dated 1940 from the Bureau of Ships Preliminary Design Department.

[NukeMM]

Here are some progress photos of my "Surprise AVP".

Some of you know what I'm making with this fourth ISW USS Mackinac AVP-13 kit. If you know...........please Hush! Hush!

I've had to fill and re-drill the bridge windows. The kit came with nine windows and the ship that I'm making had thirteen. It wasn't easy squeezing 13 window into a one inch space. I had to go metric to make the calculations come out right. I ended up using a strip of embossing lable maker tape as a template.

[NukeMM]

[Russ2146]

Lookin' Good!

[Secondo]

Out of curiosity, I've found two images of Pietro Cavezzale, formerly USS Oyster Bay

[Russ2146]

[NukeMM]

Secondo,

That would definately be a One-of-a-Kind model if you converted the ISW kit into the Pietro Cavezzale. Would you be able to get close up photos and/or drawings of the ship from Italian Navy archives or some place?

You can see remnants of the Oyster Bay under all of the changes to the ship; i.e. the 7 bridge windows with no windscreen in front of them, the extended aft superstructure, the dual gun mounts forward of the bridge.

The crane is a larger one than the Oyster Bay had. It actually looks like the heavier crane that the USS Barnegat had at commissioning. The tripod mast is a new feature, too, as well as the whale boat davits.

Here is a photo of the Oyster Bay in San Francisco after being readied for the Italian Navy in September 1957 (Navsource.org). It has "28" as the hull number (orginal AVP number, not AGP number "6") and the aft superstructure extension had been removed (torpedo and engine shops). So, the extended aft superstructure on the later photos of the Pietro Cavezzale must have been added in Italy.

[Secondo]

Secondo,

That would definately be a One-of-a-Kind model if you converted the ISW kit into the Pietro Cavezzale. Would you be able to get close up photos and/or drawings of the ship from Italian Navy archives or some place?

I think I will look for auxiliary resources as the archives are in Rome, 1000 km from my godforsaken hometown
I will ask to my well-informed fellows; however, I have a feeling that it won't be easy to find her drawings

For now, here's a wiew showing the added superstructure extension: in 1991



... and earlier in her career



Those images are too big to fit the page...

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/2202 ... 1acopy.jpg

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/254/ ... v68593.jpg

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/7089 ... 02copy.jpg

You have already seen this one, but here's the high resolution version

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/9232 ... 2acopy.jpg

[Russ2146]

Great pictures, Secondo.
It looks like the mast shouldn't be too difficult because the forward leg seems to be vertical. The US destroyers were slanted back. You have got good shots of the deckhouse.

With the large crane boom, do you know how the ship was used?

Russ

[Secondo]

Great pictures, Secondo.
It looks like the mast shouldn't be too difficult because the forward leg seems to be vertical. The US destroyers were slanted back. You have got good shots of the deckhouse.

With the large crane boom, do you know how the ship was used?

Russ

Thanks Russ

Concerning the mast, my guess is that the original pole was preserved, being only strenghtened with the addition of the rear legs in order to receive the new radar. This would make sense, and the proportions of the two configurations seem to be the same.

Pietro Cavezzale was committed during all her Italian career as a support ship for COMSUBIN frogmen, so the utility of the crane in that role is, for me, rather obscure Perhaps it was used to service their SLCs and to place artifacts to be used in frogmen's trainings, such as nettings, but this is just my educated guess.

Meanwhile, here's a bow wiew, courtesy of Mr. Cioglia

[NukeMM]

Secondo,

Thank you, so much, for contributing these photos to this thread. It is these kind of things that I hope for, here.

[Secondo]

Secondo,

Thank you, so much, for contributing these photos to this thread. It is these kind of things that I hope for, here.

My pleasure, Carl. I will show up if we'll find some more references

[Russ2146]

AVP 41 Greenwich Bay anchored off Virgin Islands, 1948 courtesy Truman Library

[AGP-8]

Hello, sorry about the delay in response. Unfortunately my dad doesn't have any photo of Wachapreague other than those currently available. he didn't have a camera with him. It's also unfortunate that he never knew his old ship was based in Boston as the USCG McCulloch.

However, here's a YouTube video I just stumbled across. Some footage of AVP-34 Bering Straight's efforts in rescuing a downed B-29 crew. Very interesting! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cme9JcdSepA

[NukeMM]

Although others already know what I've been up to, Sr. Gopher wins the Guessing Contest about my next Barnegat class model.

It "is" the USS Absecon AVP-23 the Seaplane Pilot Training Ship which had a heavey cruiser catapult and two light cruiser cranes to facilitate training of seaplane pilots who would later be attached to BBs, CAs, and CLs. The Absecon trained hundreds of pilots and conducted thousands of launches and retrievals.

[NukeMM]

[NukeMM]

[NukeMM]

Just for fun.............here's a comparison photo.

Same kit............so, many differences.

[Bigdaddy Mark]

Once again that is a great build! More pictures please

[NukeMM]

Once again that is a great build! More pictures please

Patience please, Mark.

I'll post more as I make progress on the USS Absecon. I haven't gotten back into the physical mood, to continue my models, after my surgery.

I'm glad you like what I'm doing.