Shipbucket

Something I've wanted to do for quite some time but never got around to it. Thanks to Colombamike for providing some pretty good plans of the ship as built.



This is PORTER (DD-356) in its nearly "as built" configuration. The ship is painted in the #5 Standard Navy Grey applied to all pre-war USN surface combatants, with #5 Grey on all vertical surfaces below the funnel caps and Dull Black (BK) above. The hull numbers are the standard pre-war 96" tall versions for easy recognition.

Friedman states that, as originally built, these ships were already "quite badly overweight". Their last pre-war refits resulted in the removal of the tall aft tripod mast (essentially just a large searchlight platform), with the after conn relocated and the searchlight control station deleted entirely. The paltry anti-aircraft battery consists of only two 1.1" quad machine cannons (in fore and aft superfiring locations) and two water-cooled .50-caliber machine guns abeam the number two stack. The PORTER class mounted 5"/38 Mark 12 guns in Mark 22 single-purpose twin mounts, controlled by Mark 35 directors above the pilot house and the after deckhouse. These destroyers are unique in having two main battery directors as built. Like most USN DD designs of the time, they are fitted with eight torpedoes in two Mark 14 quadruple mounts. The boxy areas amidships and just ahead of Mount 53 along the main deck are aluminum torpedo reload lockers, and the small items above the pilot house (abeam the Mark 35 director) are short base tactical rangefinders, used for navigation in the days before radar.

As built, none of the PORTER class were fitted with the tall funnel cap on the number 1 stack; this was added in later refits to reduce exhaust gas interference with the fore top. WINSLOW (DD-359) received a bizarre "right angle" funnel cap instead of the more practical version which was based on the MAHAN class design, the only ship of the class to receive this type of modification.

PORTER was hit by a torpedo during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands (26 October 1942), which crippled her and forced the crew to abandon ship. DD-356 was later scuttled by gunfire from SHAW (DD-373).

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This is WINSLOW (DD-359) in March of 1939 with the standard pre-war #5 Navy Grey scheme. WINSLOW is very similar to PORTER (DD-356), with the most obvious difference being the experimental right-angle funnel cap on the forward stack. This was another attempt to limit stack gas interference with the fore top battle lookouts and 24" searchlight station. All the other ships of this class received an angled funnel cap similar to that fitted to the MAHAN class destroyers.

WINSLOW served in the Atlantic during the war, first escorting convoys to Europe and later covering other warships during their workup cruises to the West Indies. After the Japanese surrender in September of 1945, WINSLOW was redesignated AG-127 and used to test anti-aircraft ordnance. The ship served with the Operational Development Force until being placed into reserve in 1950, ultimately going to the breakers in 1959.

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Next is CLARK (DD-361) in October of 1941 at San Diego. CLARK shows some of the late prewar alterations, including (most prominently) the removal of the aft Mark 35 director, probably as a weight savings measure. Additional life rafts have been placed abeam the forward 1.1" quad mount and the number one stack's base.

CLARK is camouflaged in Measure 1, with Dark Grey (5-D) on all vertical surfaces below the funnel caps, and Light Grey (5-L) above.

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Finally onto the wartime refits. This is PORTER (DD-356) in July of 1942, with Measure 21 camouflage. DD-356 shows the extensive modifications made during the late 1941 and early 1942 refits for all the leaders, with both of the large and distinctive tripods cut down and the after deckhouse almost completely deleted. Anti-aircraft machine guns have been added in the usual locations, and a Mark 3 Mod.1 "FC" ranging radar has been fitted atop the Mark 35 director. One of the 36" searchlights was relocated to a rebuilt structure aft of the number 2 stack, with 20mm Oerlikons behind splinter shields flanking it. PORTER retains the 8-tube torpedo armament, and K-guns have been added abeam the rebuilt aft deckhouse - atop which sit three 20mm Oerlikons and one 1.1" quad mount. The tall mainmast has been replaced with a small battle gaff, mainly as a method for stringing wire antennas fore and aft. The small antenna trunk feeding one of the wire antennas is visible just ahead of the gaff. An SC air search radar and TBS tactical radio antenna are located on the foremast, which now looks very similar to almost all the USN destroyer units of this time. The mast lighting arrangement is nearly identical to the war-built units.

An interesting thing to note is the cabling running from the top of the pilot house to the forward 1.1" quad mount, likely for remote direction. No AA battery directors have yet been provided for PORTER.

PORTER was lost in this configuration during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands.

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This is BALCH (DD-363) during the Battle of Midway on 6 June 1942, with Measure 21 camouflage. BALCH shows some interesting early war alterations, with the large pilot house glazing plated over in front and replaced with portholes. The structure of the pilot house remains unchanged, however - this would be cut back a la PORTER (DD-356) during BALCH's mid-1943 refit. Most interesting is the retention of the tall aft superstructure; most of the PORTER class ships would lose the three levels by late 1942. The aft 1.1" quad remains in its original position and a single 20mm Oerlikon has been fitted atop the aft superstructure (undoubtedly with one of the best sky arcs of any AA weapon in the fleet at the time). The screened speed light at this position has been moved down (likely to allow the 20mm operator to fire at targets approaching from the stern).

BALCH's foremast has been modified to accept the usual SC radar fitted to these ships, but has not yet received it. A Mark 3 Mod.2 "oblong" FC fire control set is mounted on the Mark 35 director.

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Next is SELFRIDGE (DD-357) in April of 1944 after leaving the Mare Island Navy Yard, with Measure 32/22D camouflage. SELFRIDGE was heavily damaged at the Battle of Vella Lavella on 6 October 1943 by a Japanese torpedo; after a lengthy yard period at Mare Island, SELFRIDGE was almost completely rebuilt. Alterations included a new forward superstructure, with an enclosed "British" style pilot house (at the time a feature of the current-construction ALLEN M. SUMNER class), a completely new gun arrangement, and cut down funnels. The Mark 35 director was landed, along with all the Mark 22 twin 5" mounts. These were replaced with two Mark 38 dual-purpose twin mounts (originally designed for the ALLEN M. SUMNER class) and one Mark 30 dual purpose single mount. A Mark 37 director with a Mark 4 "FD" radar was fitted atop the pilot house. As rebuilt, SELFRIDGE (as well as the other PORTER units to receive this upgrade) nearly rivalled the new-built ALLEN M. SUMNER and GEARING classes for main gun armament. A quad 40mm Bofors mount sits in a superfiring position over Mount 51, with two twin mounts aft. These were controlled by Mark 51 directors in nearby tubs.

The radar fit is the standard late-war USN DD fit of SC-2 air search and SG surface search, with a Mark 4 "FD" ranging radar on the Mark 37 director. BK "ski pole" IFF antennas sit on the yards, with a TBS tactical radio antenna on the port yardarm.

SELFRIDGE was decommissioned soon after the Japanese surrender and scrapped in 1947.

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This is PHELPS (DD-360) in October of 1944 after her major yard period at Charleston, South Carolina. The ship is camouflaged in Measure 32/3D. PHELPS served in the Atlantic in this configuration, escorting convoys to North Africa and the Mediterranean.

This refit was PHELPS' major rebuild from her early wartime appearance; changes include the reworked pilot house, removal of all the original main battery guns, cutting down the funnels, and the addition of a tall pole mainmast with a DAQ direction finding antenna atop it. The number 2 stack has also received a DAK direction finder as well as receiving whip antennas. PHELPS served in the Atlantic after this refit, hence the HF/DF modifications that were used to track German U-boats.

PHELPS has been modified along the same lines as the other PORTER class ships that were almost totally rebuilt. The biggest and most obvious change is the addition of five 5"/38 Mark 12 guns in a combination of Mark 38 twin mounts and a single Mark 30 mount superfiring aft. The Mark 35 director has been replaced with the potent Mark 37 with attendant Mark 12 and Mark 22 fire control radars.

An interesting note about this ship is the lack of the usual canvas barrel bloomers fitted on the 5" mounts; water intrusion on these gun mounts had been a problem throughout the war, with crews often improvising methods to keep the water out (especially on the forward guns). A satisfactory solution for this was never actually found during the war. The Charleston Navy Yard invented a method that used sliding metal plates to cover the gun ports starting around 1943 - this was selected as the "best solution" by BuShips and termed the "Charleston Navy Yard Sliding Metal Gun Port Cover" in spring of 1945. PHELPS and the other ships rebuilt at Charleston went back to sea with the sliding metal gunport covers in place, hence the lack of bloomers, or "blast bags" as they are erroneously and incorrectly called on the internet.

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This is PHELPS (DD-360) in August of 1945 with the "emergency AA fit" mentioned in Friedman's and Conway's. Camouflage is the standard Measure 21 all-over Navy Blue (5-N) deemed especially effective against aircraft.

The anti-kamikaze program of 1945 resulted in rearmament modifications for many of the USN's destroyers. Drastic measures were undertaken once the threat of the kamikaze (essentially the first guided missile) was understood; in most cases, this meant the complete removal of all torpedo armament and their replacement with radar-guided 40mm Bofors guns wherever possible. For the PHELPS, this refit replaced the wing 20mm Oerlikon tubs with twin 40mm Bofors and associated Mark 51 directors. The torpedo tubes have been completely removed along with their foundation towers. The twin Bofors on the aft deckhouse were also replaced with quads: these mounts received the new Mark 63 GFCS, which consisted of an on-mount Mark 28 Mod.2 radar dish antenna with associated Mark 51 Mod.6 director mounted nearby. The presence of the Mark 28 radar on the mount itself allowed for radar ranging capability, something the 40mm mounts traditionally lacked. Ultimately even the 40mm Bofors was deemed ineffective against the kamikaze threat, which led to the development of the 3"/50 rapid fire mounts postwar.

PHELPS lacks any of the common RCM (radar countermeasures) equipment normally fitted to the rebuilt ships; I suspect this is because these were essentially emergency conversions of old hulls slated to be retired immediately after hostilities ended. The FLETCHER, ALLEN M. SUMNER, and GEARING units all received extensive RCM suites that survived into the postwar years.

MCDOUGAL (DD-358), WINSLOW (DD-359), and PHELPS received a different pilot house arrangement than SELFRIDGE (DD-357); this is mostly evident in a taller profile, with a flat bulkhead replacing the smaller tubs on either side of SELFRIDGE's bridge. The trio also had their funnels shortened (as always, this was an attempt to reduce topweight).

PHELPS ended the war in this configuration. The ship was decommissioned shortly after the Japanese surrender and scrapped in 1947.

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All PORTER class drawings available here: http://shipbucket.com/drawings/search?c ... ate=&view=

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Excellent work!

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Hi Colo

YES, I have been waiting for these, and they were worth it!!

Greetings
GD

WOW! The Farragut odyssey ends, the Porter odyssey begins! Awesome job, Colo...you truly are the USN Master Artist!

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#FJB

Topweigh t is strong in this one.
Excellent drawing, as usual.

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Great job. I always liked these Destroyer Leaders.
As built, they were really small cruisers - halfway
between USN DD and USN Atlanta class CLAA.

The Colo did it again. Glad you tackled this one, I feel it's rather obscure for USN standards.

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I can't call them attractive destroyers by any stretch, but these are top-notch drawings as usual.

For ships ostensibly facing stability challenges, it's shocking to me that a destroyer had a high, plated-in secondary conn. Compare and contrast to the open bridges that would find favor in wartime use... in the North Atlantic!

As a somewhat knowledgable engineer and a USN 'fan', it's easy to take a crap on various design efforts from the Japanese (oops, Mogami basically isn't seaworthy) or the Germans (oops, your cruiser's stern fell off), or even the British (oops, don't wrap a Type 42 exactly around the systems you want it to contain). But the Porter looks like quite a stinker on the part of the BuC&R staff, especially compared to the Fletchers to follow.

Great work.

Thanks all.

Next is a fairly minor iteration. This is CLARK (DD-361) in October of 1941 at San Diego. CLARK shows some of the late prewar alterations, including (most prominently) the removal of the aft Mark 35 director, probably as a weight savings measure. Additional life rafts have been placed abeam the forward 1.1" quad mount and the number one stack's base.

CLARK is camouflaged in Measure 1, with Dark Grey (5-D) on all vertical surfaces below the funnel caps, and Light Grey (5-L) above.



All PORTER class drawings available here: http://test.shipbucket.com/drawings/sea ... ate=&view=

All USN destroyer drawings available here: http://test.shipbucket.com/drawings?cat ... shipType=1

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The PORTER class certainly looks a little strange for a DD, but I have to say I really like the lines of the ship (probably because my original interest has always been the USN cruisers). I'm almost hesitant to draw the wartime refits as they essentially made the ships indistinguishable from the DD-445 and later classes, at a distance.

The small enclosed platform on the after tripod (with the visible portholes) is the searchlight control station; the after conn is the open platform one deck level below it, behind a wind shield. The wind shield around this station was a later addition; as built, it was just railing (with canvas dodgers fitted early on and wind shields added at the first opportunity I can imagine!)

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