Calling all USN, RN Escort Carriers (CVE) fans

[jabarry]

I have an S models plastic Gambier Bay fresh from China. I will review it this month. First comments: Hard to get - even for an experienced Chinese modeller resident in China, a bit underscale.

I see, so it is going to be one of those quest kits where getting your hands on one may be even more rewarding and fulfilling than actually building the kit!

Thanks Lester, I will look forward to your review!

[canx2k]

Does anyone know if the boards on deck were nailed and showing the nail heads, or plugged...or....?

[Tracy White]

They were drilled and fit over threaded studs welded to the steel deck beneath. A nut was tightened over the stud and then a wooden plug inserted on the top to seal it all in.

[canx2k]

They were drilled and fit over threaded studs welded to the steel deck beneath. A nut was tightened over the stud and then a wooden plug inserted on the top to seal it all in.

Awesome that's great news. Soooo much less work! Tiny nails ftl

[dogbone78]

Does anyone know equipment locations in the gallery deck catwalks of Bogue class CVE's? Equipment such as aircraft fuel stations, fire hoses, life rings, ect... . I know that there were 2 fire plugs on the flight deck and 14 on the gallery deck but I don't know where.

[Roberto]

Looking for hangar pictures of any Casablanca Class CVE, or just the area below and around the stern aircraft elevator.
I am building Hasegawa's Gambier Bay and would like to portray her with that showjng.
Thanks.

[MartinJQuinn]

USS Long Island, October 1942

[Charybdis]

Thanks for sharing these. I'd like to know what those two box like structures under the fwd flight deck are.

[Captain Morgan]

Thanks for sharing these. I'd like to know what those two box like structures under the fwd flight deck are.

she had bridge wings for the pilot house near the forward end of the flight deck on each side. The rest of her superstructure was amid ships with the flight deck built over it.

[BuNo02100]

USS Long Island, October 1942

Martin,
Great pic you posted. Not sure if you have it inany higher resolution but would love to know what side code on the F2A-3 is. I believe that the date is probably Oct 1941 as Long Island was pretty much an aircraft transport by Oct 1942 and her air group ashore.

BW

[Tracy White]

Most of those aircraft are SOCs, which wouldn't have been part of a carrier air group anyway. It's very likely she was doing transport in the picture above.

[InchHigh]

The SOCs were assigned to VS-201, which was embarked. Long Island carried SOCs into 1942.

[tjstoneman]

The Navsource photos of LONG ISLAND (http://www.navsource.org/archives/03/001.htm) include a couple showing a USMC F2A-3 aircraft of VMF211 coded MF-5 after a landing accident, as well as several showing SOC-3A aircraft of VS-201.

[honglong17]

Hello everybody, i currently plan to buy some update gun for my 1/350 Gambier bay, but there is several version of Bofors update available. May i ask, which version of Borfor that she use ? version 1 or 2 ?

[Rick_H]

Can anyone confirm (or deny) that the railings on the flightdeck catwalks on the Bogue class (both US and British) CVEs were angled 45 degrees outboard? I have read this somewhere, but have not seen enough photos to be convinced.

Thanks,
Rick

[Tracy White]

I'd say more like 60 degrees. Not all sections either, the corners on at least some were vertical and the catwalk under the aft flight deck had vertical railings since it was hanging from the overhead. I haven't done a study yet to see if this was an evolving feature.

[Rick_H]

Strictly, this isn't a question about USN escort carriers. I am specifically interested here in the 34 Bogue and Ruler class CVEs that were given to the UK. (I have not read David Wragg's book about CVE's in WWII, and based on reviews, the book has no solid information better than Poolman's books and Friedman's and Terzibaschitsch's works.)

1) Number of 40mm mounts: After much comparison of print and web resources, I am coming to the conclusion that the first batch of 11 CVEs (called Bogue class) served the entire war with only four twin 40mm mounts. This was opposite from the first few USN Bogues that were built with four (either 1.1 or twin 40mm) and were later augmented to eight twin 40mms. It seems the final 23 units of the Ruler class had all eight twin 40mms from birth. Does anybody know for certain that this is not correct about the British units?

2) Twin power operated 20mm guns: I've read somewhere that a number of the British CVEs had their single 20mms replaced by twin power operated 20mms. Later I read at http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org ... XhwEX97mpo that the twin power operated 20mms were fitted only to the final five ships: Patroller, Puncher, Reaper, Ranee and Thane. I know the Booklet of General Plans for Puncher at HNSA shows single 20mms, but I believe that is because the BGP is a US document, and does not reflect mods made at Burrard's before the RN made the ships operational. Any opinions?

3) Flight deck extension: The Bogue and Prince William class ships appear to have been built with flight decks of 438 ft, and at Burrard's shipyard the RN units were extended to to 492 ft. Or so. I can't find any photo that seems to show an extra 50ft at the after end of RN flight decks. It seems to me that a 50ft extension would overlap the 40mm mounts on the quarterdeck. I see a photo at http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org ... rydock.htm that shows "an extension', but it doesn't seem like 40ft to me. The drawings in the Profile Morskie book for HMS Attacker show the same flight deck length as the US ships.
This is a question only for the Bogue/Ruler classes. I read that the Swordfish needed the longer flight deck because it was not compatible with the US-style catapults.Does anyone know details about the flight deck extension on the RN units?

Any help is appreciated.
Rick Heinbaugh

[maurice de saxe]

The US Navy data sheets for the Bogue class list a flight deck length of 439 feet. The RNRA site you cite states that the added round-down aft was 15 feet long, making an overall length of 454 feet, which seems more probable. The site does not mention any extension forward. If, as I suspect, the site has transposed overall length and flight deck length in its tabulations for the classes, it suggests that the overall flight deck length was 465 feet, but it does not explain how that was arranged.

[jep1210]

I've resurrected my Bluejacket CVE-73 build and want to add as much detail as possible. I've recently found out these pipes that run on the outside of the hull are for the aviation fuel. I can see lines going vertically up to the flight deck area presumably to refuel the planes on the deck, but I can't seem to find any clear pictures of what they look like once they get up to the catwalk. Picture from NavSource. I have the Anatomy Of A Ship: Gambier Bay but there's nothing clearly showing what's up there.

[oneslim]

jep1210,

Look for two small vertical tanks with piping between them. Also a hose reel. These lines were drained and filled with CO2 when general quarters was called.

Sorry I can't find a shot right now.

BobW