Here is an image of DD-821 JOHNSTON and a couple of close-ups. JOHNSTON was one of the earliest photos I have found with the twin 3-in mounts installed ... 4 May 1950. Note that one mount had yet to be installed, but that helps to provide a clue as to what the foundation looked like underneath the mount. Not the rings for controlling the "flow" of spent shells and also they served as a safety rings. Similar rings were used on 40-mm mounts as well. I found discussion in official records about the modifications to these during the war to reduce "injuries" to crew members particularly on the amidship mounts. They started out with no rings and went through several design mods.
I like this ship's configuration, she has yet to have a tripod or hedgehogs forward. Definitely a destroyer in transition. There was a shortage of twin 3-in mounts in the early 1950's and that caused a delay to the scheduled installs of 3-in guns. Made a lot worse by the start of the Korean War. As mentioned, the bulwarks around the 3-in mounts were altered and there appear to be some minor variation. Note the last image ... there appear to be two DesDiv's of GEARINGS ... one with in-line and one with staggered twin 3-in mounts ... plus a couple of FLETCHERS.
Is that a WT Door on the forward side of the Mk 56 director house, starboard of the centerline and inboard of the locker????
On the third picture you can see the extension of the 02 deck. Also note the 01 just below. That's an additional extension with railing to give access to an added WT Door. Just to make life interesting, the 01 and 02 extensions are not the same on the Stbd side.
I have looked in my collection of photos. But, finding a clear view of the forward bulkhead of the Mk 56 deckhouse has proven to be a bear. Many of the photos I have found in my trips to NARA have the SUMNERS and GEARINGS equipped with 40-mm guns or are strictly profile views. Here are a couple more views that should provide some additional details.
DD-846 OZBOURN on 22 May 1953 coming alongside for refueling ... if I could find another alongside view looking back at this area, it would be nice.
DD-697 CHARLES S SPERRY on 9 November 1954 and a couple of close-up crops.
At some point mid '50s the class received an upgrade to their ECM suite necessitating a new structure and antennas on the aft stack. I haven't found any good detail photos of this area on the web. Does anybody have good photos or drawings of the aft stack antenna structure in the late '50s?
Rick, thanks again for your previous photos. They were very helpful.
There didn't seem to be much interest in aft stacks so its now tough to find decent photos. Also, they seem to have gone through several stages
Note that GMM's photo etch set for Gearing does contain a passable aft stack platform ut it does not appear on their instruction sheet. You'll have to scratch build the ECM antenna domes. By the 60's they had added a truss reinforcement under the port end of the platform.
Here are shots of Raven's model of the Barton, with which I have some disputes, showing his rendering of the aft stack. This would be the final variation for the non-FRAM ships.
I'm going to try and have an update on my build thread but I need to get a non-reflective background material. I've also been struggling with the tripod mast, trying to solder rather than CA it together.
Correct. The Canisters were rare in the mid-60s, though they did exist. Most oftenyou had the black rubberized coverings strapped down to racks. The straps were held together by a pressure release device like you see today. You either kick it really hard to release or it would pop loose from water pressure if the ship were to sink. You can see one aft of the hedgehog in this photo.They also appear on Raven's model
Here's as close up as I have. Right above the sailor leaning on his elbow at the rail. The stantion he's leaning back on is one of the support legs for the rack.
While we are on the topic of the modernized pre-FRAM destroyers, I have a question about the Maddox. According to the squadron/signal book (I know, kinda inaccurate), Maddox had a widened open bridge at the time of the Tonkin Gulf action in 1964. Based on photos from navsource, I can make out some possible evidence that this is true, but I cant say for sure. Also, some texts mention something about a COMVAN; what did this look like and where was it on the ship? What do you guys think? What books, drawings, or photos show evidence of these things? Thanks in advance.
I'm building a model of my old Gearing tin can from the Lindberg 125 Fletcher hull. I cut her in half and and 1 1/4 inches amidships for the extra 14 feet and re-did as much of the hull as I could to give her a more rakish look and built everything else scratch from the weather deck up.
Almost done and she looks pretty good after a year. Should have bought a BADD model ... may have saved time. My can was the USS Lloyd Thomas DD 764 a FRAM II Gearing. She was a DDE with a hedgehog mount in the place of mount 52. She looked more like a long hulled Sumner. Working on the railings and more deck details, vents and exhaust ducts, life jacket lockers, Repair and paint lockers.
Any suggestions ... now that I'm almost done .... that hand filing is a pain and finding plans wasn't easy. Tin ca sailors sent me their plans for the USS F T Berry ..... it and many photos helped.
Actually the USN referred to the SUMNER and GEARING classes into the 1950's as the "SUMNER class, short-hull and long-hull", since that was what they were. I have started to get into early 1950's records at NARA and was a little surprised they were still using that terminology into 1953, I though it went away after WWII, definitely by 1950.
