Calling all Essex-class (WWII configuration) fans

[Mike W]

Back to the drawing board I think! Thanks for the help though.

thanks
Mike

[Jamie Alguire]

Hi all:
Id like to summarize a project Im researching, to confirm with those more knowledgeable if it makes sense -
1/350 Trumpeter CV-9 kit built as CV-17 Bunker Hill, time period June 1944, Philippine Sea:

- She was in dazzle measure 32/6A camo scheme
- 10 x 40mm quad mounts (ie including the starboard aft hangar-deck pair)
- she had 5 mesh radio masts
- 'early war' island, similar to that provided in CV-9 kit, with 4 x 40mm quad mounts, (ie. the fourth one ahead of the bridge)
- Her air group is a bit confusing; she had a group of F4U Corsairs replacing her F6F Hellcats, but not sure which group was on board during the Philippine Sea engagement.
- What airgroup was her TBF's & Helldivers?

Any comments welcomed! Thanks in advance!

[Mark McKinnis]

Hi James,

I don't think Bunker Hill picked up Corsairs until late 1944/early 1945. Here is an interesting link to the order of battle for P. Sea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippin ... _of_battle

So you are looking at Air Group Eight: (CAG-8)

37 F6F Hellcat fighters (Lt. Cmdr. W.M. Collins)
33 SB2C Helldiver dive bombers (Lt. Cmdr. J.D. Arbes)
13 TBF Avenger, 5 TBM Avenger torpedo bombers (Lt. Cmdr. K.F. Musick)
4 F6F-xN Hellcat night fighters (Lt. Cmdr. E.P. Aurand)

Good Luck,

Mark

[Jamie Alguire]

Hi James,

I don't think Bunker Hill picked up Corsairs until late 1944/early 1945. Here is an interesting link to the order of battle for P. Sea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippin ... _of_battle

So you are looking at Air Group Eight: (CAG-8)

37 F6F Hellcat fighters (Lt. Cmdr. W.M. Collins)
33 SB2C Helldiver dive bombers (Lt. Cmdr. J.D. Arbes)
13 TBF Avenger, 5 TBM Avenger torpedo bombers (Lt. Cmdr. K.F. Musick)
4 F6F-xN Hellcat night fighters (Lt. Cmdr. E.P. Aurand)

Good Luck,

Mark

Awesome link Mark thx!

[Mike W]

Well I've decided to build my Randolph oob with the dazzle camo, with some extra GMM etch. So my attention turns to what to do with my Dragon Lexington kit. I'm aware it should have all the parts to do any 1945 short hull Essex but could you make a 1944 Essex or Lexington out of the kit, just using the parts in the kit and without having to do any butchery (which it would be if I tried cutting/scratchbuilding).

thanks
Mike

[Tracy White]

Lexington kit was one of Dragon's later releases and has extras so it's a good kit to have. Just look over the parts and the ship you want to do and as long as it's not a long hull you should have the majority of the parts you need. There may be a few outliers and it's been a while since I've looked at mine, but from memory it covers the majority of the early to late details.

[Mike W]

Lexington kit was one of Dragon's later releases and has extras so it's a good kit to have. Just look over the parts and the ship you want to do and as long as it's not a long hull you should have the majority of the parts you need. There may be a few outliers and it's been a while since I've looked at mine, but from memory it covers the majority of the early to late details.

When did Lexington and Essex gain the second deck catapult?

thanks
Mike

[Tracy White]

Essex never did. She had replacement catapults waiting for her at Puget Sound Naval shipyard but never made it back to the states after her early 1944 overhaul.

Lexington received her port flight deck catapult in a repair & overhaul that ended in February of 1944.

[SeanF]

Well... Essex DID get a second cat, but that was in her SCB-27 refit in '49. During WWII, no.

- Sean F.

[Tracy White]

Well, this *is* the WWII Essex thread...

[Guest]

I've got both the Dragon Lexington and Essex kits. The Lexington kit is more geared for when she was in late war... I think it even has the quad .50 mounts she and Wasp had at war's end. The Essex kit is early war, meaning you could make most any short hulled Essex-class launched in 1942 up to mid 1943 with little to no modification. I'm planning to make my Essex the Lexington as she was in November, 1943, prior to the torpedo hit.

[Charybdis]

Can anyone shed some light on this photo? It's from World War Photos and the caption reads "SBD-5 of the VB-4 USS Ranger October 1942". It seems to show planes from Air Group 4, VB-4 but on an Essex Class carrier. You can just make out the rear of a twin 5 inch mount on the right. The aircraft markings appear to be from 1942 but on an Essex Class carrier? I know Air Group 4 operated on the USS Essex (CV-9) but with these markings?

[FRAMSailor]

Good question. However, it looks small for a 5"/38 twin mount?

[Tracy White]

It's on an Essex class carrier, the caption is wrong. I don't have the time at this point to go through war diaries to try and determine ship and date, but we're looking at the edge of a quad 40mm mount on top of the pilot house of an Essex class carrier. Flight deck is too wide for Ranger as well.

[Charybdis]

Thanks Tracy. Looking closer, there's a lot of shadow on the deck but is there a black stripe along the centreline? That would ID it as Yorktown. On Shakedown perhaps?

[Tracy White]

I would say perhaps after shakedown; an examination of the deck logs might shed some light, but I agree it's likely CV-10 Yorktown.

[lucasner]

I've scrolled through almost this entire thread and don't believe this has been asked...but if it has, I'm sorry in advance.

I have Trumpeter's 1/350 Hancock kit, and I want to build her in her final wartime configuration and airwing.

After her kamikaze damage in April, I believe her repairs/refit included at a minimum the extra 40mm mounts and MS21 camo. I've had a really hard time finding more than just a handful of photos of her final configuration, so I can't readily tell if anything else changed.. The extra 40mm tubs are included in the kit so I am planning on just altering their positions to the correct location per this thread.

So, in an effort to build the most accurate end-of-the-war-long-hull, here are a few of the things I am interested in:
- Were the cutouts in Hancock's flight deck ever covered over?
- Is the island provided in the kit accurate for her July-Aug 45? I am by no means anything approaching having any detailed knowledge of the Essex class, and I have read here over and over that each ship was slightly different than others. I've been looking at the Model Monkey islands, but there's no way I have the smarts to tell if any of them would be more accurate for Hancock in Jul-Aug 45.
- I'm pretty clear on the different deck lengths between the Tico and the Hancock, but is the kit deck for the Hancock correct? I've read the cut outs are wrong.
- Would the Pontos Ticonderoga set have the correct flight deck for this time period Hancock? I've read the elevators aren't properly positioned in the kit.
- What about the Pontos electronics fit on the masts? I know the vast majority of that set would work without question, but these two things are unknown to me. I get that any difference would be obvious only to an Essex experten, but hey...I'd like to know anyway.
- I believe her airwing would be as follows:
VF-6 F6F x34
VBF-6 F4U x36
VB-6 SB2C x15
VT-6 TBM x15

Thanks for taking the time...we all know how in the weeds these questions can get when a dumbass like me just isn't happy with the kit and markings they give us...
Dave

[lucasner]

I have, thanks. I've downloaded all of them already. But I don't think there are any photos in this collection that are between April 45 and her post war configuration.

[Tracy White]

You are correct - there are no photos on the Navsource page that will be of help.

From memory the notch for the third Mk 37 was filled in but I can't remember the quad 40mm notches by the port side 5" galleries. She had the short deck through the end of the war. I've got the documentation that can help but had to work late tonight and don't have the time to go through it all. Air group is pretty good - if you want to go nuts VF-6 had a mixture of F6F-5Es and -5Ns. Initially just four -5Es but by August VF-6 reported 26 F6F-5s, 4 F6F-5Es, 4 F6F-5Ns, and two F6F-5Ps. The Corsairs were F4U-4s with four-bladed props.

[Dick J]

Hancock was repaired at Pearl rather than on the west coast. As a result, fewer modifications were made than would otherwise have been done. The flightdeck notch for the third MK-37 director was filled in, the extra work probably being allowed because of its proximity to the damage being repaired. The two notches for the original port side 40MM most likely were not. The one photo I have seen of Hancock under repair/refit shows the quad 40MM in the forward port side sponson was not lowered to the level of the 5" mounts. Originally, the 40MM mount was elevated and the cutout made to allow the limited number of 40MM to have the maximum arcs of fire to make the most of them. As the numbers of 40MM increased, and cross deck firing became unnecessary, the sponson mounts were lowered to the level of the 5" guns, which allowed the cutouts to be filled in (making the air department happy). If the 40MM mount was still elevated, the small cutout would still have been needed to allow it to turn normally. The photo also makes it clear that the forward end of the flightdeck had not been extended to the "standard" length.