Calling all Garcia-class, Brooke-class & Glover-class FF fans

[sandy]

Hi,

Are there any fans of these ships on the forum?

I have been interested in these ships for a couple of years and had planned to build a 72nd scale r/c model of one. I was just waiting to start. However, I have acquired a 72nd scale Knox hull and I have decided to cut and shut it to form a Garcia. The Knox hull is not of the best and to turn it in to a Garcia will require cutting down the hull sides and taking 4 inches out of the length.

The plans I have are for the first five Garcia's and the first three Brookes (with the seven bridge front windows and the strange shaped wheelhouse) and my thoughts are to do DE1045 Davidson which, due to a long time intereest in the Vietnam war, did several WestPac cruises and served on the gunline on many occasions.

I have grabbed all the photos off navsource, but none seem to show Davidson in the late sixties.

At the time she would have had the 'small' hangar for the DASH drone, although the very interesting Girodyne website make no mention of them actually being on the Garcia's, and the Mk25 torpedo tubes on the transon and not, I suspect, the additional Mk32 tubes on the main deck amidships. Can anyone confirm this?

Also, some photos of the time show that the ships had what can best be describd as inverted shuttle cock style antenna on the forward 5inch and also, sometimes, on the midships turret as well. Alternatively, the midships turret appears to have a very tall whip antenna.

Both 5/38 turrets appear to be single knuckle ones.

Any help with onboard detail photos would be appreciated.

They seem to be 'forgotten' ships and yet, with the pressurised fired boilers they appear to have been efficient and much faster than they were designed to be. Also, in contrast with the following Knox class, there doesn't appear to have been much criticism of their seakeeping qualities.

All the best
Sandy

P.S. Does anyoe have any photos of the Mk56 director, or plans of it>

[NukeMM]

Although not much of a technical expert on these ships, I have built 1/700 models using the Corsair Armada Productions kit of the USS Garcia and consider myself a "Fan" of this class.

I built the USS Garcia, the USS Brooke, and the USS Glover from this kit.

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html

I did a Google search for images and found these of the Mk56.......

[Cliffy B]

Drawings exist of the Mk-56 in one of the following books, I can't remember which right now.

Essex-Class Carriers By: Alan Raven
Fletcher-Class Destroyers By: Alan Raven
Anatomy of the Ship: USS Sullivans (DD-537) By: Al Ross

My local library has all of them and I can look for you if you'd like, probably next week. Just let me know man.

I'd tell you to check defenseimagery.mil for photos of all of them but their search engine is totally FUBAR for the near future. If you need any specific areas let me know and I'll dig through the ones I have saved and e-mail.

I'll tell while doing research for a build of FFG-4 that the hardest area to find a decent photo of is the Mk-22 GMLS and how the deck is shaped around it. I FINALLY found a very nice shot taken from an accompanying ship from before the LAMPS alt that shows it in perfect detail. Found it in a random coffee table book on "warships of the 20th century" or something like that. If anyone wants it let me know and I'll scan and send. I think it was taken during a UNITAS or some other exercise as there is a foreign sub in the background or maybe one of our old GUPPY's can't remember.

I'll join Carl in saying Mike's Garcia kit is wonderful!!!! A Brooke or Glover can be had with very little modification and they build up nicely. Just look at Carl's

[sandy]

Hi,

Thanks to you both for taking an interest. Those models look amazing.

By Mk-22 do you mean this:-









(pictures from the USS Ramsey website).

If you can track down your picture, I would appreciate it.

I have a loan of the Sullivans book as I am supposed to be building a 48ths scale Fletcher at some point. I will take a look through it.

My prefernce is the Garcia's, especially the seven window bridge ones with out the auto reload for the ASROC (if anyone can show me good pictures of the ASROC reload crane on the bridge front I would appreciate it. My impression is that it folds out and the forms a platform too) and the pre-Lamps hangar versions as well. Maybe it is the two old 5/38 inches that do it for me.

Thanks again.

Sandy

[Cliffy B]

Yeah, that's it! The photo is scanned and its of DEG-1 (FFG-1) in 1969. PM me an e-mail and I'll send it your way.

The Corsair Armada kit comes with some black and white detail photos that look like they were Xeroxed onto the page but the quality is still good enough to pick out details. The photos are of one of the 1040's in her pre-LAMPs fit.

I have some shots of the 1040's that focus on the ASROC crane and at least one has the crane deployed. I'll e-mail.

Any other ares you need while I'm at it?

-Mike

PS, you want detail? Check out Phil Toy's super-detailed 1/311 build of FF-1043 in the gallery! Check out the construction shots especially since there's a nice close-up of the reload crane.

http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/sh ... /index.htm

[sandy]

H Mike,

I sent you a PM.

Thanks for a link to Phil Toy's Bradley. Very helpful stuff although I am want to do the Davidson off Vietnam so there will be differences. Reading the text it implies that Phil was onboard Bradley and managed to take lots of photos.

Finding photos of the first five still in DASH configuration is proving tricky.

All te best
Sandy

[Cliffy B]

Sandy,

E-mail sent, let me know.

Yeah, even DefImagery with its plethora of stuff was fairly light on pre-LAMPs shots, I'd say, try the ship's respective websites and root around on Flickr. I've found some really good photos of a variety of ships on Flickr. Just try different search parameters and play with using quotes since people don't always label their photos very well.

Regards,
-Mike

[Jimmy Conway]

Here I point out what I think is an antenna, but not sure. So I ask colleagues who can explain what this piece would be in the single gun, and what its use................ the gun was fitted in some US Garcia class destroyer (Garcia-class frigates were United States Navy warships. These frigates were originally ocean escorts bearing the hull classification DE or DEG until 1975. The ships were commissioned between 1964 to 1968 and decommissioned between 1988 and 1990 ).

Thanks: Jimmy

[Timmy C]

Presumably it's the same as the ones on Long Beach's 5" guns, in which case Tim identifies them as AS-2866/SRR cone antennae in his review of the Dragon 1/700 Long Beach kit (see the caption for the PE fret): http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/sh ... eview.html

Googling for them reveals the possibility that they are for high frequency communications.

[Jimmy Conway]

Jim Adams reports that too in a site:

"The PE fret holds ladders, replacement platforms, and one of the most unique items, the AS-2866/SRR Cone Antenna. The antenna mounts on the turrets. During my time in the Navy there were two turrets like these on the base at Great Lakes. Too bad I didn't shot a few pictures back them......"



Googling for the term "AS-2866/SRR antenna" make few returns, but now I have some idea of the nomenclature and certainty that it is an antenna.

Now I'm searching for pics of "Long Beach" showing the 5/38s with the cone, I wasn't aware about other class of ship with this antenna.

Thanks Timmy.

[Timmy C]

Don't look too hard:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/1109/04010901.jpg
http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/1109/04010953.jpg

[Jimmy Conway]

The use of this antenna on board the ship has no connection with the operation of the gun ......... would be a communications antenna on HF?

[Jimmy Conway]

Don't look too hard:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/1109/04010901.jpg
http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/1109/04010953.jpg

Thanks again for the shortcut........................

[Timmy C]

Assuming it's the same antenna, page 38 of this document is what I based my "high frequency communications" statement on.

[Jimmy Conway]

Ok, there it is:

[CEustice]

Hey Sandy: I'm presently building a 1/96 scale model of the USS Bradley DE-1041, and am in great need of prints .I have a starboard side print, but no others. I'd really like to get ahold of a port side and top views, of either Garcia or Brooke classes. Let me know if you have such a thing. Thanks

Chris

[BBC_KT]

I received this in the mail today. It is in 1/310 scale but I was wondering if 1/350 photo etch parts would be passable.

[CEustice]

Does anyone out there know of any aftermarket suppliers of 1/96 scale boat davits? I'm looking specifically for Garcia class or Brooke class davits for my model. These are round davits instead of angular as seems to be more prevalent. Any hints would be greatly appreciated.Thanks,
Chris Eustice
tarfu96@aol.com, or
here at the forum.

[tico]

Hi CEustise

Email Robin at scalewarship in the UK he was working on Davits on the Fletcher class destroyers
He may be able to help as he now producing model of US navy warship built after WW2

hope it help

Stevie

[SebastianP]

I'm trying to build up my 3D parts library of post-war US Navy weapons systems, and I noticed that these ships were equipped with the Mk24 "long torpedo tubes" that I had never heard of until I started researching this class. Information about the torpedo tubes themselves seems to be very thin on the ground, does anyone know where to get some better pictures of the system than what's on Navsource, as well as any kind of specs (drawings especially).

I know that the tubes were used primarily for the Mk37 homing torpedoes, but according to Friedman's US Destroyers book, they were supposed to be compatible with Mk48, which sounds very intriguing. (I'm now kind of envisioning the Spruance-class with stern-mounted Mk24 tubes and Mk48 ADCAP torps. That could be a very nasty surprise for someone.