The Ship Model Forum

Phil,

I guess I should have stated that she is in "port". I had two images of USS DENVER I scanned dated in April 1943, the other image of her is a starboard side view showing that she is stationary, that I was looking for rafts. Plus the seaplane in the water confused me. Actually the seaplane could belong to the ship that took the photo.

On the question about rafts on USS DENVER, I wonder if more than two rafts are stowed between the stacks, with at least four being likely, but maybe even more.

The early CLEVELAND class units had a variety of configurations as the class evolved.

Rick,

I was just nit-picking about the ship being anchored. When I look closer I think I see a bit of a wake around the port quarter, and the flat water off the port stern makes me think the ship was moving slowly and turning to port. There are bunch of guys standing around on the bow. I'd bet they were the Special Sea and Anchor Detail, and the ship was maneuvering into position to drop the hook or tie on to an anchor buoy.

****

I suppose the Cleveland blueprints contain a list of rafts and such - there is a list of furniture - but I am sure I have never scanned it. Anyway, as soon as the war started I'm sure they added more rafts, floater nets, life jackets, etc., especially since they eliminated the midships boat farm. So the original blueprints won't be of much help.

The USS Miami CL-89 "Booklet of General Plans" General Information page (page 2) lists 33 rafts and 23 float nets. This is probably a good approximation of what the ships carried during the war since the Miami was built and commissioned during the war. Looking at the deck plans I found these rafts:

2 Frame 28 Main Deck port and stbd sides of turret #1 - one each side *
1 Frame 45 Communications Platform centerline fwd of Mount 51 - one on deck
2 Frame 55 Communications Platform port side of O1 deck house - two stacked
1 Frame 64 Main Deck stbd side on side of deck house
4 Frame 65 Communications Platform port and stbd outboard of deck house O1 level - two stacked each side on framework
2 Frame 74 Communication Platform centerline stbd above potato stowage - two stacked
2 Frame 76 Communications Platform centerline stbd above potato stowage - two stacked
? Frame 78 Communications Platform on deck aft of potato stowage **
8 Frame 97 Communications Platform port and stbd outboard of deck house O1 level - two stacks of two each on framework
1 Frame 101 Main Deck stbd side of deck house
2 Frame 118 Main Deck port and stbd sides of turret #4 - one each side *
4 Frame 129 Main deck port and stbd sides under catapult - two stacked each side
4 Frame 131 Main deck port and stbd sides under catapult - two stacked each side
2 Frame 137 Main deck port side under catapult - two stacked
Total: 35 - two more than listed in the General Information

* Note: The plans show 6 floater net stowage on top of 6"/47 turrets #1 and #4. The plans do not show the top of 6"/47 turrets #2 or #3. However, the outboard profile shows floater nets on the tops of all four turrets. That accounts for 24 floater nets - one more than in the General Information.

** Note: These two life rafts are shown on stbd profile but are not on Communications Platform deck plan.

Phil

_________________
A collision at sea will ruin your entire day. Aristotle

Beautiful photo of Denver. I definitely concur the mainmast air search mattress is SA - the rounded corners of the reflector are visible when you blow up the photo. Rick you've given me an idea for my next project!

Hi Rick,
Thanks for posting the blow-up photo of the DENVER. So many more details are now visible--the life rafts you mentioned and the mwb davits.
There is a photo taken the day she returned to Mare Island, showing where she was hit. It also shows that several changes from your photo had been made.
First, there is a platform just below the foremast head that seems to have the SG although something is still at the masthead (can't tell what it is). Second, the 40mm director tub abreast the aft funnel appears to have been removed. Instead the 36" searchlight position on the foremast looks smaller to me as if the director is there now. Photos from the end of her refit show this to be the case. Finally the ship is now in Measure 22 (Navy Blue & Haze Gray) It would be interesting to know when/where these changes were made--some time between April & November '43.
thanks,
Jim Grace

Quick note...
The old Midships 1/700 Miami is listed here for $14.95.

https://freetimehobbies.com/1-700-midsh ... t-cruiser/

Who is reissuing the Midship models?

I saw that Midships release! Pretty low price given what the Skywave Cleveland went for/goes for now. It said the kit did not include decals, but still...$14.95 is a pretty amazing price for any 1/700 release of a cruiser size subject. New destroyer releases seem to be at least $25...

I took a look at the link below for the Midships model of the USS Miami CL-89.

The first thing I noticed was the rangefinder extension to turret #1. The later Clevelands didn't have the rangefinders in turret #1. But I have several photos labeled "USS Miami" that show these rangefinders on turret #1. These appear to be early photos right after commissioning, possibly on the shakedown cruise in early 1944. But 1945 photos clearly show the rangefinders to be gone from Turret #1 - a topside weight reduction measure. So this model must be the early 1944 configuration. I don't know when the rangefinders were removed, but it was done on many of the later ships.

NONE of the Clevelands had rangefinders on turret #4. I can't tell from the picture of the box artwork if the model has rangefinders on turret #4.

The model also has two 20mm guns outboard port and starboard of turrets #2 and #3 on the main deck. This was the shakedown cruise configuration, and many ships were initially fitted out with 20mm guns there. But July 1945 photos show twin 40mm guns at these positions. So this is definitely a shakedown cruise version of the ship.

The Miami had the trash burner smoke pipe on the front of the after smoke pipe - the model shows it outboard to port at the rear of the smoke pipe. The earliest Clevelands had it there. Miami did not.

The motor whaleboats are missing just aft midships port and starboard. They were carried on davits. These were on the ship immediately after commissioning in early 1944 and were still there in July 1945.

Mount 54 (port aft) appears to be on a platform with a walkway under it. The dual 5"/38 mounts rode on a handling room "box" that extended to the sides of the ship with no walkways around them.

These are pretty basic mistakes that makes wonder about the accuracy of the model. Maybe they are just box artwork mistakes.

However, the mounts 54 and 55 dual 5"/38 mounts do appear to be positioned correctly for the square bridge ships - about 12 feet farther aft than on the round bridge ships. This means it isn't a minor rework of a model of the early ships with just a square bridge substituted.

Phil

_________________
A collision at sea will ruin your entire day. Aristotle

This is same kit as the Pit Road/Skywave kit but also marketed by Midship back in the day when they did the 1500 ton DDs. You can find it on Freetime's site with this link so see if you can place an order. I did and it seems to work. If it bounces, I'll get a refund. At the price it is certainly worth it. Possibly Brandon found several in the "warehouse". BTW Midship also did a Cleveland kit also the same as the Pit Road/Skywave kit.

The Pitroad kit of MIAMI is reviewed on this site at http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/sh ... miami.html.
Responding to Phil's post - noting that I am referring to the original PitRoad offering, which I believe has the same plastic as the Midships Model version:
Rangefinders are provided in the kit for all four turrets, but are separate pieces, so can be fitted as required - the instructions do, however, indicate they should be fitted to all four.
The emplacements for all four pairs of 20mm guns outboard of the inner 6" turrets are separate pieces, and, again, can be fitted as required.
The trash burner uptake is not provided in the kit.
The motor whaleboats and davits are provided in the kit, and the location indicated in the instructions.
The handling rooms under the twin 5" mounts are provided as part of the superstructure deck, and extend nearly to the ship's side. The Booklet of General Plans for MIAMI (http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/089/cl89.pdf) shows that they did not extend to the deck edge, leaving space for a walkway outboard of them, so this is correct - if the builders followed the plans.
There are many other differences between this kit and that of CLEVELAND, and most (but not all - eg trash burner uptake) of the changes in the real ships appear to have been made in the kits.

tj,

Thanks. Sounds like the plastic is more accurate than the box art.

Phil

_________________
A collision at sea will ruin your entire day. Aristotle

Anybody have an idea as to what year the to-be- released Blue Ridge 1/350 USS Cleveland is supposed to represent?

According to what VeryFire said here. late war.

_________________
Martin

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne

Ship Model Gallery

Thanks, hoping for that.

I might even spring for a 1:350 or 1:200 type III modified Cleveland class like the USS Miami - something that can be made into a USS Oklahoma City CL-91. I have been planning to make a scratch build someday.

It will be interesting to see if they actually get the square bridge version right. I have never been able to find blueprints for it, and there were some subtle but significant differences in the superstructure from the early Clevelands. Each ship yard made slightly different versions. Added to that, wartime modifications were added as the opportunity appeared, usually after battle damage that sent the ships into the yards, so no two ships were alike. That adds up to lots of opportunities to screw up the kit. Lots of opportunities for kit bashing!

I did some CAD work for Yankee Modelworks for a 1:350 USS Oklahoma City CLG-5 kit but the last recession killed them before they could finish it.

Phil

_________________
A collision at sea will ruin your entire day. Aristotle