Farragut class destroyers

HULL (DD-350) in December of 1944. This is the ultimate wartime configuration of the FARRAGUT class ships, with four 5"/38 Mark 12 guns in half-shield Mark 24 Mod 1 mounts forward and open type Mark 24 Mod 0 mounts astern. The amidships 5" gun from the original design was landed during the early refits, to be replaced at first by a battery of 20mm Oerlikons and later still by the 40mm Bofors pictured, with Mark 51 directors in small tubs nearby. By this point, all of the surviving FARRAGUT class ships had received the SC-2 air search radar and SG surface search on the mast, with the lightweight Mark 28 ranging radar antenna on the Mark 33 director (this director was too light to receive the Mark 12/22 combination). HULL is camouflaged in the Measure 31/6D scheme for destroyers, with Haze Grey (5-H), Dull Black (BK), and Ocean Grey (5-O) on the vertical surfaces and Deck Blue (20-B) and Ocean Grey (5-O) on all horizontal surfaces. The HULL's last refit included plating over the large and distinctive pilot house windows and replacing them with portholes.

HULL was lost during Typhoon Cobra in December of 1944, along with 202 of her crew.

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Next is FARRAGUT (DD-348) in September of 1944, in the Measure 31/7D scheme. This is the only other "dazzle" scheme for this class. The official design sheets show a pattern of Ocean Grey (5-O) and Dull Black (BK) on the vertical surfaces, but from photographic research it appears FARRAGUT was actually painted in Light Grey (5-L) instead of Ocean Grey. The yards occasionally painted the ships using different colors than the SHIPS-2 manual specified.

FARRAGUT's 1944 configuration differed from HULL's only in details. The large pilot house windows are still present (HULL having received portholes during her Puget Sound refit), and the shape of the trash burner uptake on the forward stack is slightly different. FARRAGUT's bridge wing splinter shields have also been reduced, most likely as a weight savings measure. The small log desk and pelorus are visible next to the Mark 27 torpedo director now. FARRAGUT's starboard sea anchor has also been landed and the hawse pipe plated over - almost all of the pre-war USN destroyers lost one of their anchors during the wartime refits. Most interesting is the reinforced bow for ramming enemy submarines, a "common modification for the time", according to Friedman. The electronics fit is the standard mid-war DD arrangement of SC-2 (air search) and SG (surface search) on the mainmast, with Mark 28 on the gun director. Note the wind baffles on the port and starboard sides of the director - an effort to reduce director crew exposure while underway at high speed with the guns trained outboard. This problem would be solved on the larger units by enclosing the director, but weight restrictions did not allow it on the FARRAGUT class.

FARRAGUT would end the war in this configuration, being decommissioned immediately after the Japanese surrender and sold for scrapping in 1947.

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Next is MACDONOUGH (DD-351) in December of 1943. After a complicated series of refits, DD-351 returned to the Pacific combat area in Measure 21 camouflage (overall Navy Blue (5-N)). The FARRAGUT class ships all received twin 40mm Bofors mounts amidships during their 1942/1943 refits, and the earlier refits also added the Mark 49 director, visible just aft of the no.2 stack. The Mark 49 was a completely enclosed power-driven gun director originally designed as a replacement for the Mark 44 and Mark 51; ultimately it proved unsatisfactory as it was not capable of training rapidly enough to track fast-flying aircraft. Some installations included the small Mark 19 ranging radar allowing for blindfire capability, but by 1944 almost all Mark 49 directors had been retired in favor of the much lighter and simpler Mark 51 (a basic lead-computing director trained and aimed by a human operator).

MACDONOUGH retains the three 20mm Oerlikon machine cannons ahead of the pilot house, with one mount in a centerline tub ahead of the bridge. Note the pipe guards to restrict this gun's field of fire to prevent the gunner from accidentally firing into the bridge wings. This was a common modification on the mid-war units as the 20mm Oerlikons did not have interlock capability.

The ship's Mark 33 gun director for the main 5"/38 guns has been fitted with improvised supports for the Mark 4 "FD" ("Fox Dog") radar. The open topped directors did not have the ability to mount the radar ahead of the director so this clumsy solution was preferred; it shows how eager the Navy was to get radar onto as many fleet units as possible. The foremast mounts the usual SC-2 air search and SG surface search radar antennas, with a TBS tactical radio antenna on the starboard yardarm. The waveguide for the SG radar is visible below it.

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This is HULL (DD-350) in April of 1942, also in the Measure 21 scheme. The FARRAGUT class ships were only camouflaged in Measure 21 and the Measure 32 dazzle schemes during the war.

HULL shows a very typical configuration for the early war refits. A battery of four 20mm Oerlikons has replaced the original amidships 5"/38 mount (a sacrifice dictated by the King Board anti-aircraft rearmament projects, which preferred to lose 1/5th of the main gun battery vs. 1/2 of the torpedo battery). The Mark 33 director atop the pilot house has not yet received the Mark 4 radar, and the SC and SG antennas atop the mast have yet to be fitted. HULL would receive these upgrades during its next refit.

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This is DALE (DD-353) in mid-1944. DALE left the Puget Sound Navy Yard with the Measure 31/6D scheme. The raised searchlight platform above the aft deckhouse is a feature found on DALE, DEWEY (DD-349), WORDEN (DD-352), and MONAGHAN (DD-354); the original FARRAGUT design had a searchlight tower in this position at least two deck levels above the aft deckhouse and emergency conn, which was shortened during the early refits (another weight savings measure). The other ships of the class had their 36" searchlights placed directly on the deckhouse, with small supports to allow a clear line of sight over the 20mm tubs abeam.

Otherwise, DALE shows the usual late-war mods for this class: SC-2 and SG radars with associated IFF antennas on the yards, 40mm Bofors amidships, and four 5"/38 Mk.12 guns in half-shield mounts forward and open mounts aft.

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Next is AYLWIN (DD-355) in December of 1941. AYLWIN shows the "as built" weaponry arrangement of the FARRAGUT class, with five 5" guns and eight torpedoes in two quadruple tubes. A token anti-aircraft machinegun battery consists of a mere five 20mm Oerlikons, with two ahead of the pilot house, two between the torpedo tubes, and one right aft between the depth charge roller racks. The arrangement of the "K-gun" depth charge projectors and their associated handling davits and arbor stowage racks has also changed, with one set of K-gun projectors aft of Mount 55 on the stern. The tall searchlight tower aft is a holdover from the original design; normally it would also support the tall mainmast, but the pre-war refits gradually removed the mainmast as it was realized how unstable these ships really were. The emergency conn is behind the tall canvas wind shields on the aft deckhouse. Pre-war refits removed the crow's nest (a feature present on nearly every USN small combatant) and replaced it with a much more exposed position at the mast ahead near the truck lights.

AYLWIN is camouflaged in Measure 11, the overall Sea Blue (5-S) system, with Deck Blue (20-B) on the horizontal surfaces. Feedback from the USN aviators resulted in the retirement of Measure 11 and its replacement with Measure 21 and its darker Navy Blue (5-N) camouflage, which was found to be more effective at defeating aerial observation.

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AYLWIN was at the Mare Island Navy Yard for a refit in March of 1942. The ship emerged in Measure 21 camouflage, with Navy Blue (5-N) on all vertical surfaces. It was during this refit that AYLWIN lost the amidships 5" gun, to be replaced with a battery of 20mm Oerlikons. The 20mm mount ahead of the bridge has received a splinter shield, and the aft searchlight tower has been completely removed and the 36" searchlight mounted on a small riser above the aft deckhouse. An SC air search radar has been fitted at the mast head, along with three pairs of red-green-white fighting lights.

AYLWIN would participate in the Battle of Midway in this configuration.

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Finally, another version of HULL (DD-350), this time in May of 1944. The most interesting part of this version of HULL is the SA air search radar, a system usually fitted only to light units like the destroyer escorts; this is another example of the USN rushing to get as many radar sets into the fleet as possible.

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(edit: comments about the original below)

A fairly straightforward drawing made from Floating Drydock plans and detailed via photo research. There really isn't a lot available on these ships surprisingly (at least not that I could find). I finally had to bite my tongue and draw the open-topped Mark 33 director... I'm not totally happy with how it looks so any assistance with high-res photos of this installation would be nice. Also, this is the first time I've drawn a ship with such noticeable camber to the main deck that it actually appeared in the drawing - quite an interesting experiment. The Deck Blue paint is visible under the torpedo tubes and the aft guns.

Shipbucket

Farragut class destroyers

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