This should close my postings for now. If in future I come across other photos worthy of posting I will put them up.
I hope model builders like the detail photos, and ship lovers who enjoy the WWI USN Destroyer fleet found som e unusually detailed pictures.
Others feel free to add pictures, or better yet, if you have a model of any one of these ships, please post it.
With this post I will clean up the extra photos still not posted. Sort of a random cleaning up of my collection. Excuse the possible reprint of some.
NOTE: The photo of "Parker, bow gun & officers" Look at the base of the forward gun mount. Notice the cable passed around a special fitting made into the gun base. This provided a Hard Point for towing. You can see the cable passed around and fitted into this hard point.
NOTE: "Stern gun & depth bombs" photo. Notice the emergency tiller aft of the gun, a pulley system can be mounted on deck to steer the ship should steering engine fail. This would get in the way of depth charges later on, and would need shielding or removal.
Battle damage was rare. But here are two photos of one of the more famous torpedo hits to a USN DD on troop convoy duty. Once again, torpedo attacks tended to come from surfaced U-Boats. Meaning keeping them under was the name of the game.
On 15 October, she sighted the German submarine U-61 about 20 nmi (23 mi; 37 km) south of Mine Head Lighthouse, Monagoush, County Waterford, Ireland, and pursued her. At 13:30, Cassin was struck on her port stern by a torpedo. The torpedo struck above the water line, and ignited several depth charges. Cassin, her rudder blown off and stern extensively damaged.
The file for this photo is too large to pin to the post, so I post a direct link to it in expanded form.
USS Henley a Paulding class destroyer in fresh camo paint in the European War Zone. This is probably the finest ship portrait of a USN Destroyer in World War I. Note that gun shields are fitted to each mounting, something that was added piecemeal over the war.
Those are all awesome photos, thank you very much for the time and effort of posting them, I have had some very good hours perusing them and getting lost in searches related to the ships in question.
Very nice portrait there. The early USN DDs all appear very sleek, and the camouflage looks good on such delicate vessels.
Gernot Hassenpflug
Find out how it works, then functionality and limits
Gernot wrote:Those are all awesome photos, thank you very much for the time and effort of posting them, I have had some very good hours perusing them and getting lost in searches related to the ships in question.
Very nice portrait there. The early USN DDs all appear very sleek, and the camouflage looks good on such delicate vessels.
You are very welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed them. I am interested in the Imperial Japanese Navy Destroyers sent to the Mediterranean Sea during WWI to take part in the ASW along with the Royal Navy. If you know of any photos of those ships, please post them. I am about to start my own search for photos of them taken by the Royal Navy.
Bob B.
Thank you for sharing this pictures bengtsson.
I also like the Japanese destroyer in Mediterranean Sea, especially the Kaba class.
Some very nice colorized pictures on this website: http://blog.livedoor.jp/irootoko_jr/arc ... 20856.html
I'm working on one of this class built for French Navy (1/700):
Sorry to not get around to posting earlier, but I have been very busy with other projects. I still need to cross check the images I have scanned to what has been posted here. I note that some of the images I have found in purchases or at NARA have already been posted.
I recently found this photo at a Military Collector Show of a destroyer escorting USS LEVIATHAN and after scanning it I discovered that the ID of this destroyer on NHHC and Navsource as USS DOWNES (DD-45) is wrong and is actually USS WINSLOW (DD-53). The ID was likely based on the camo scheme ... which it turns out BOTH destroyers wore in 1918.
Another photo I found at the Military Collectors Show was of this unidentified destroyer tied up to a tender at Brest. If anyone has a hint, I would appreciate the help. I don't have a database of what camo schemes went with which USN destroyer during WWI. All I can tell at this time is that it is a pre-Flush-Decker destroyer class. I suspect that she may be a CASSIN class unit (or a Repeat CASSIN class?) based on the aft gun being relocated to the aft deckhouse.
Edit; I figured out that this is USS MacDONOUGH (DD-9) that arrived at Brest on 20 February 1918. The locations of the 3-in guns, rub strake, four short funnels spaced almost evenly, and the shape of the vents all match. DANFS entries eliminated her near twin sister USS LAWRENCE (DD-8).
Anyone have a higher resolution copy of this photo, or any other hi-rez 1917-1918 era photos of Smith DD-17? I am working on a review of the new 1/350 scale kit, and trying to discern if the bridge, as depicted in the model is accurate, or not.
Photo courtesy of Navsource
Martin
"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne
No, because the kit doesn't have that shape bridge, and has a roof, so it's not useful to me. The photo I posted, and another taken pier side in NYC shortly thereafter in 1917, seem to show a different shaped, larger bridge. I need a higher resolution photo to determine if the seemingly larger, different shaped bridge matches what is in the kit.
Martin
"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne
The only reference I can find about the bridges being enlarged is in a photo caption from US Destroyers from Friedman. In the Chapter "A Decade of Developments 1906-1916", there is a picture of Downes, showing her in 1919 "...newly returned to peacetime status, but retaining the wartime angled bridge front...".
I know Downes is a later, larger class than Smith, but it seems that modifying the bridges is something they did across destroyer classes at this time, from looking at photos.
Martin
"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne
what time period does the model represent as the model's bridge does not match your navsource picture? look at my picture & your navsource picture then compare it to the model's picture especially the lack of bridge wings in the model that is present in our 2 pictures. also the roof in your picture appears not to cover the entire 2nd level just the center area minus the bridge wings.
look at this picture that shows a shadow area that is not present on the model as cannot happen on the model as that bridge area is the wrong shape.
There is some object on the starboard face of the bridge, which I think is what the shadow is. This photo, taken shortly after the underway photo, to me, also "seems" to show the bridge matching the model, but then the roof doesn't look right.
Martin
"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne
even tho we do not see the actual roof but a framework for a roof, it does not match the model's roof & I think the roof is made from canvas which is why it is there in 1 picture & only the framework in the next picture.
It does look like parts S33 should be out from under the canvas roof. Should be a simple matter to snip back the left and right ends of the roof piece (well, okay, tin-snip) and add a couple posts to replicate the legs of the support frames we see in the head-on shot.
Sean - yes, I agree that they probably used photos of sisters and/or near-sisters and decided "close enough!". On my next trip to NARA, I'm going to try and dig into these ships a little deeper, and see what I can find.
I also agree it's a fascinating subject, hopefully they'll do more (but tone down the grossly overstated hull plating).
Martin
"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne
e unusually detailed pictures.
