Porter class destroyers

I am not sure why a third twin mount was not placed atop the after deckhouse... my thoughts vary between "too much weight" and "not enough room". Friedman has nothing to say about this. Keep in mind that five guns was the standard number of guns for every USN DD class of the time until the ALLEN M. SUMNER and GEARING classes, so it may just be the result of institutional inertia at BuC&R, though of course I don't know for sure.

The USN experience at Samar in late 1944 proved the value of retaining torpedoes as a primary offensive weapon on DDs - it even influenced postwar construction into the 1950s. It's very interesting to examine what Friedman calls the "pro-torpedo policy" in contrast to the anti-kamikaze refit programs undertaken late in the war once the threat of kamikazes in the Pacific was fully realized. Certainly by late 1944 there weren't many targets for American torpedoes left afloat in the Pacific.

My notes on this class originally indicated an "anti-kamikaze refit" version of 1945 (complete with the Mark 12/22 radar and the Mark 63 GFCS for the Bofors), but after my usual extensive photo research I've come to the conclusion that none of the PORTER class were actually modified this way. I was originally led down this path by the shamefully inaccurate "Profile Morskie" drawings of the class, which indicate such modifications to SELFRIDGE (DD-357) in 1945. The 1944 version I posted earlier covers the modifications made to SELFRIDGE, MCDOUGAL (DD-358), and PHELPS (DD-360), with only minor differences between the three. The Atlantic Fleet ships of this class stayed in their late 1942/1943 configurations, and did not receive the heavy anti-aircraft gun re-armaments, as they had been utilized primarily as convoy flagships. At any rate, I had unknowingly drawn the last iteration of this class I had originally planned when I completed SELFRIDGE yesterday.

I will certainly not be using Profile Morskie drawings as a primary source ever again. I only did so this time because my usual sources surprisingly had nothing on the PORTER class!

Colosseum wrote: *

June 22nd, 2017, 11:53 pm

The USN experience at Samar in late 1944 proved the value of retaining torpedoes as a primary offensive weapon on DDs - it even influenced postwar construction into the 1950s. It's very interesting to examine what Friedman calls the "pro-torpedo policy" in contrast to the anti-kamikaze refit programs undertaken late in the war once the threat of kamikazes in the Pacific was fully realized. Certainly by late 1944 there weren't many targets for American torpedoes left afloat in the Pacific.

You may know this, but I suspect many others do not: the early sketches of what eventually turned into Long Beach had a single quintuple torpedo mount amidships!

Colombamike wrote: *

June 23rd, 2017, 7:26 am

--snip--

http://imgur.com/a/NrZ28 << this is the same photo in high res, with the mounting card at NARA listing "18 April 1945" as the photo date. There are some minor config differences from the ship's fit in late 1944; most noticeably, the tall mainmast supporting a DAQ HF/DF antenna. The shape of the splinter shield on the forward 40mm Bofors position is slightly different, losing the aft starboard section of the bulwark. Otherwise the configuration is nearly identical to the late 1944 fit. Most noticeable is the different Measure 32 scheme (3D instead of 22D).

MCDOUGAL (DD-358) and WINSLOW (DD-359) were converted to test radar picket ships and received the designations AG-126 and AG-127; this much is supported by photographic evidence. I am not interested in drawing these conversions.

I've found a photo of PHELPS (DD-360) with the ultimate anti-kamikaze refit of 3 x quad Bofors and 2 x twins (the arrangement seemingly shown in the Profile Morskie drawing and incorrectly labeled as SELFRIDGE (DD-357)). PHELPS is currently the only ship of this class where I can find concrete evidence of the anti-kamikaze refit. See here: http://imgur.com/a/n7kdb Modifications include the slightly different pilot house arrangement, deletion of the torpedo tubes, and different funnel caps. The Profile Morskie drawing shows only a few of these modifications (more reasoning not to trust them).

There is also a chance that simply no photos of a modified SELFRIDGE or MCDOUGAL with the emergency AA fit exist. I may return and do the PHELPS in late 1945 but I have already moved onto other projects.

Given that the Japanese were building DD with two, or even
three sets of torpedoes, and that the USN was planning primarily
to fight Japan, it only makes sense that U.S. DD had two or more
sets of torpedo tubes. At Jutland, the German fleet used its DD's
to make one large - scale torpedo attack. The British fleet turned
away to avoid it, and never caught up with the German fleet
after that. The Royal Navy lost its only chance to destroy large
numbers of German warships.
Additionally, Japanese DD never had more than six main guns.
German DD never had more than five. Based on history and
the main overseas threats, the USN had a pretty good balance
of guns and torpedoes in its DD designs.

Ooh, 'other projects' sounds exciting!

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As promised, 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://test.shipbucket.com/drawings/sea ... ate=&view=

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

Fantastic as usual. I'ts a pleasure to see all those new drawing from you lately.

Hello Colo

Concur with BB, these are fantastic. I'm afraid people will pester Colo for more on a daily basis for quite some time... compared with the IJN, the WW-II-era USN is still somewhat underrepresented with high quality drawings in the bucket.

Greetings
GD

We are going historically apparently. First the IJN fills the bucket, then the USN strikes back.

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