Hello again all
Well, after completion and delivery of the USS Indiana project, I have taken a short respite from building. I am ready to get back at it! This new project is a bit off the wall for me. I am used to doing larger ships, so this small craft will be a good diversion for me. I feel it will make an interesting subject. How I got to this was I was contacted by a veteran, Mr. Jack Read, who served on these boats during the 1944 invasion of Europe at Normandy. He wanted to know if I could build him a replica of the boat. After looking things over, I agreed to start construction. In keeping with my feelings towards the Vets, I am doing this labor free. Mr.Read is now 88 years old. He is quite active for his age. He came to the Indiana presentation in Indianapolis recently, and drove all the way from Pennsylvania to meet me and check out the Indiana. A really nice fellow, as they all are. Let's take a look, and I'll give a brief rundown on things............
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File comment: Stb. side view of the Boat underway. Note the pilothouse. This was the bronze version, early production. Bronze started to run short during the War, so later versions were fitted with a plywood pilothouse. More angular and less of a chamber on the roof. Basic layout was the same in either case.
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A brief Hisory lesson............The 83 footers were wood-hulled craft,the hull form was the round bilged type, single planked. The design for the boats was completed in March of 1941, and 40 boats were contracted to be built by the Wheeler Shipyards in Brooklyn, N.Y. With the advent of WW2, a further 190 boats were ordered. Early units were fitted with an Everdur bronze pilothouse. Due to a shortage of bronze, later boats were fitted with a plwood pilothouse. All craft were capable of 21 knots full speed at the time of delivery, but their performance was degraded by machinery wear as well as the increased displacement from armaments,radar, sonor, etc. Top speed was dropped to about 16 knots. During 1941-45 these boats were used for anti-submarine patrol, costal convoy escot,and search and rescue. They played a little known important role during the Normandy Invasions harrasing German U-Boats, but most importantly saving some 1500 lives. These boats were 83' in length, had a beam of 16 feet, and weighed in at 54 tons. They were powered by two Sterling Viking II gasoline engines, rated at 600 HP each. The boat carried 1900 gallons of 100 octane fuel. Later units were equipped with a 20mm MG at the stern, two 7.2 rocket launchers, and 8 depth charges. Only a handful of the proud little ships still exist today. Here's some more photos.................
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File comment: Heres an early version of the 83. Note the absence of depth charges and rocket launchers. You can see the 20mm.
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File comment: Another shot of the early version. Note the roof on the bronze pilothouse.
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File comment: Heres a later version. Note the difference in the pilothouse.
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File comment: Heres thae actual boat I will build. Look close and you can see the rocket launchers and depth charges.
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File comment: Good shot of the subject. Note the boxes on either side of the pilothouse. Storage for the 7.2 rockets. This has the plywood pilothouse.
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File comment: Heres Mr. Read, 20 something. He his now 88, and is an Honorary Master Chief of the USCG.
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Well, theres a description of whats new here. Due to the fact that the plans are rather poor for this subject, I have decided to use a fibreglass hull, rather than scratchbuild one. But it is just that, a hull. No details whatsoever. So there will be lots of scratchbuilding on this one. Model will be 1/24 scale which puts it at about 42". It will be waterline with crew. Stay tuned, more to come!!
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FAQ
who's fiberglass hull are you using???....joe
Did these boats wear any camouflage schemes?
As I said above, the fibreglass hull has finally arrived after 3 weeks. A screw up in shipping, but nevertheless, it is here. It was advertised as a "very clean product". The verdict? Well, it is clean. But it has no details on it whatsoever. Up to the modeler to add those. Thats Ok, we can do that! It also has a slight twist to it from fore to aft. I will compensate for that during the rest of the build. I have never used a fibreglass hull before so this is new for me. All in all, I think it will work out. The general shape looks accurate, and the finish is good. A bit of sanding and tweaking here and there. Lets take a look.............