Rick E Davis wrote:
I'm on the road and can't post images.
There are images of WOODWORTH earlier in this thread. There is another image of LAFFEY in the JUNEAU discussion.
The "J" shape cranes were removable and stowed away many times.
Yes the bridge design of the Round-Bridge FLETCHERS and the bridges on the SIMS-BENSON-GLEAVES class destroyers were similar. The Flush-Deck hull, power plant, and the superstructure were all new on the FLETCHERS.
At one point the USN "authorized" only four K-Guns on BENSON-GLEAVES class destroyers as weight compensation. But, that never happened on most destroyers, at least for long, particularly in the Atlantic Fleet.
Thanks... I found the Crane parts on both the Plastic Sprue and on the PE Fret.
They are, for Summer-Fall of 1942, 4 "A-frame" Cranes on the bulwarks for the Eventual "Twin 40mm" tubs, and then 4 "J-Cranes" on the after group of Depth Charges.
I have found a few photos of Benson/Gleaves units (only in the Pacific, so far) that had only 4 K-Guns, but
ALL of them look to be
AFTER the roller racks were installed for the Depth Charges, and all at least mid-1943 or later.
Also.... Something else I noticed about the Benson/Gleaves class (a difference in the Deck Houses on the Main Deck).
• The Forward Deck House on the Gleaves class has the deckhouse going further aft, all the way to the Searchlight Mount (on which the searchlight often isn't placed).
The Gleaves class, as mentioned earlier in the thread, had a different walkway from the roof of the Forward Deckhouse to the Aft Deckhouse. The Walkway looks to be located in different locations depending upon the ship,
usually to Port, but sometimes to Starboard, and sometimes near the centerline. But the Walkway is shorter, due to the lengthened Deckhouse, and even when the deckhouse proper isn't lengthened, the roof/decking above the Deckhouse
IS lengthened in the Gleaves-class.
On p.19 of the Steve Wiper
Warship Pictorial #12: Benson/Gleaves-class Destroyers, the top photo of the USS Gleaves on May 31, 1942 shows an example of this lengthened Foreward Deckhouse; as does p.17, at the bottom of the page of the USS Butler in what looks to be early 1943 (The photo is undated, but it has Roller-racks for the Depth Charges for the K-guns).
• The Aft deckhouse on the Benson-class comes further forward (about 24"), and on
MANY units, there is a rounded platform coming off the front of the roof of this deckhouse (where the Searchlight is on some units.
The Photo of the USS Laffey on p.49 of this thread (with Wasp Survivors) shows this extension of the Aft Deckhouse, where a ladder comes up the side of the Deckhouse bulkhead P/S at this location.
The USS Farenholt (April - Aug 1942) on p. 14 of the
Warship Pictorial also shows the Aft Deckhouse extension, and rounded platform (The Farenholt
does have its Searchlight here.
Pp. 15 - 16 shows the USS Murphy (Aug 1942), USS Frazier, USS Gavesvoort, and USS Gilleespie (No date give, but the 300lb Depth Charges are still on the Arbor-posts) also with the Deckhouse extension, and the circular platform roof extension, even though their Searchlights are mounted in the more "traditional" spot (or, rather, where the kit puts them).
I did make some measurements to see if they hadn't just shifted the bulwarks for the AA guns Aft a bit, but comparisons of distances to the 53 5"/38 mount to the aft end of the AA Gun Bulwarks look to be roughly equal.
Also, if you look at pp.16 & 17, and compare the overhead shots of the Benson-class USS Gavesvoort with the Gleaves-class USS Butler, you can see that the turret is roughly the same distance to the After Control Station, and that the distance from the front of the After Control Bulwark to the rear of the AA gun Bulwarks is the same.
These are all trivial fixes on the kits. I'll get shots posted soon to my WIP thread of the Laffey and Farenholt with these modifications made.
MB