Porter class destroyers

Colosseum

Post subject: Re: Porter class destroyers

Posted: June 26th, 2017, 7:59 pm

Posts: 5218
Joined: July 26th, 2010, 9:38 pm
Location: Colorado
Contact: Website

Thanks all.

One more: 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 completes the evolutions of this class I intend to draw.

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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