Somers class destroyers

I must say old chap, one much prefers the standard grey as opposed to all those wonderful Blues and Camo schemes one sees these days, as one can more easily see the fantastic drawing itself!

Jolly WELL DONE Colo my old chum, for giving a fantastic looking ship, a fantastic looking rendition here on Shipbucket

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This is how all my wishes should come true

! Very well done again!

Thanks all.

Next is WARRINGTON (DD-383) in April of 1943 operating in Perles Bay in the Canal Zone. WARRINGTON is painted in the Measure 16 scheme, consisting of White (5-U) and Thayer Blue (5-B) on all vertical surfaces with Deck Blue (20-B) on the decks and turret tops. Measure 16 was a pattern intended for use in the Arctic areas, where long periods of twilight and frequent fog and overcast weather were expected. This pattern was used extensively in North Atlantic and Aleutian waters in 1943 and 1944 before being replaced with Measure 33.

WARRINGTON displays the early wartime alterations for the SOMERS class ships. The 03 and 02 level of the aft deckhouse have been completely cut down, with the removal of the aft pair of boats and their attendant boat cranes. One of the aft torpedo reload cranes has been retained to help with loading the aft set of torpedo tubes. The middle pair of tubes has been deleted to save weight and make room for a twin 40mm Bofors mount to port and a single 20mm Oerlikon to starboard. The big 36" searchlight aft sits on a small raised platform just abaft the torpedo reload crane, with a small battle gaff immediately astern. A second twin 40mm Bofors in a tub sits atop the aft deckhouse, with a pair of 20mm Oerlikons replacing Mount 53. The pilot house has been modified in a fashion similar to the PORTER class. A Mark 3 Mod.1 "FC" fire control radar has been fitted to the Mark 35 director. The mainmast mounts an SG surface search radar, and has been altered to receive an SC or SA air search mattress at the truck, but no antenna has yet been fitted. A TBS tactical radio antenna sits on the starboard yardarm.

WARRINGTON served in the Pacific before being transferred to the Atlantic in 1944. The ship was lost during the 1944 Great Atlantic hurricane off the Bahamas in September, 1944, with 248 of her crew lost at sea.

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One more for today.

This is JOUETT (DD-396) in April of 1944, with Measure 22 camouflage. Interestingly, JOUETT's Measure 22 has been applied in a non-standard fashion with the forward stripe of Navy Blue (5-N) following the line of sheer forward, versus the standard format that would create a horizontal line up to the lowest level of sheer.

JOUETT shows typical late-war alterations for the SOMERS class, which were not totally rebuilt like the PORTERs. The main gun armament is nearly unchanged, with Mount 53 having been landed to accommodate more light anti-aircraft guns. The number 2 torpedo tube mount has been deleted and replaced with a 40mm Bofors (to port) and a 20mm Oerlikon (to port). A tall mainmast (similar to that fitted to the PORTER class) sits atop the aft deckhouse, with a DAQ HF/DF antenna above, along with a small battle gaff and the screened speed light halfway up the mast. The large and distinctive pilot house windows that characterized the pre-war DD designs have been plated over and replaced with portholes. The foremast mounts antennas for the SG and SA search radars.

JOUETT served in the Atlantic, escorting convoys and intercepting German blockade runners before participating in the naval component of Operations OVERLORD and DRAGOON. The ship was decommissioned at the close of hostilities and scrapped in 1946.

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All USN drawings 1930-1945 available here: http://test.shipbucket.com/drawings/sea ... 1945&view=

Great work.

So obviously logical - ship operating in Panama Canal Zone painted in pattern intended for use in Arctic areas...

Awesome job on both!

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

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