Alright ladies and gents, here's my latest and greatest whiff project that I've been working on. The
USS Leyte (CVHA-32) Initial design sketch.
Final Island design drawing with complete electronics suite.
Back story:She's the centerpiece in the stories I'm writing for my alternate history. In my world the
Leyte doesn't get commissioned until about 1947-48 and is laid up following the conclusion of WWII in 1953. There she stays until the late 1970's, kept in good shape and ready to go if need be. Due to construction problems of the
Tarawa'sand war losses of the
Iwo Jima class LPHs the amphib fleet is in dire need of some new big decks and in a hurry. China's saber rattling is becoming all the more real each day especially after Eastern Russia adds their support. All sorts of plans are drawn up but nothing can be done quickly enough. The Navy is a bind until the final sale orders of 4 old
Essex class CVs graces the desk of a quick thinking member of BuShips. The orders are quickly rescinded and conversion plans are drawn up. Overnight the 4 old carriers are towed into yards to begin reactivation and conversion to amphibs.
Leyte, along with
Phil Sea,
Lake Champlain, and
Valley Forge emerge from the yards within 6-8 months ready for war. They don't have to wait long, within a year all 4 make combat deployments to the Western Pacific. After several minor skirmishes, China and E. Russia finally invade Taiwan and an full scale war breaks out. After a colossal sea battle a combined US, Aussie, and Japanese invasion force hits the beaches. Three long months later its over. The old
Essexes proved their worth ten fold. So much so that even after
Leyte eats a couple of SS-N-2s the Navy rebuilds her to a more advanced design then the original conversion with her 3 sisters following suite.
Leyte emerges from the yards in early 1982-83 and following her shakedown cruise she deploys to the Caribbean for training exercises with her ARG and fire support group. The exercises are to be cut short however as the group suddenly gets emergency deployment orders to South America!
Design:Think
Essex class commando carrier. I always liked the UK commando conversions of
Albion and
Bulwark and decided to design a USN version. The drawings depict
Leyte in the mid 1980s or so fresh from the yard after her rebuild. I borrowed heavily from the post-SLEP
Forrestals for the island design and other features. She's carrying 4 LCM-6s with provisions for an additional 4 stowed in the hangar deck if need be. Air wing is a mix of CH-46s, SH-3s, UH-1Ns, AH-1s, and AV-8Bs. CH-53Es can be carried but are too tall for the hangar deck (a whole 1 foot 1 inch too tall!). Yes, those are Mk-71 8"/55 Autos mounted on the flight deck! Those are just entering the fleet and
Leyte is the test ship before more Amphibs are modified to carry them. She has a full complement of 4 Mk-29 Sea Sparrow launchers and 4 Mk-15 Phalanx mounts for point defense. The flight deck has been re-arranged with the forward elevator being removed and a portion of the forward hangar deck being filled in for Marine berthing and equipment stowage. The after center line elevator has been moved back and to the deck edge. Both deck edge elevators have been enlarged and strengthened to take modern aircraft.
With the help on NavyDave we have begun construction of a 1/700 model of
Leyte from a DML
Antietam kit. So far Dave has finished construction of the new flight deck and is almost done with the paint. After I get the deck, I'll start surgery on the hull and go from there. Thanks to WEM I have an air wing all ready to go, just need to decide on camo schemes. Other than that a LOT of scratch building lays ahead.
WIP shot of the new flight deck compared to a WWII era
Essex deck. Will add some more photos after paint.
Hope you like it! Any thoughts, suggestions, comments, etc... are always appreciated.