USS Bennett DD-473 1/96 scale
Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 11:07 am
Hi Everyone,
I would like to dedicate my build of the USS Bennett DD-473 to my grandfather Lawrence Henry Francis Barstow. My grandfather was a carpenter whom lived in Walpole Massachusetts with his wife Lillian and their eight children (7 boys and 1 girl). During the great depression he supported his family by building houses on the property he owned in Walpole. He built one house per year by himself with the help of his sons when needed. He did everything from the foundation to the roof and everything in between including the kitchen cabinets. The first house my grandfather built, he even dough out for the foundation by hand.
Then the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and dragged the United States into WWII. My grandfather was too old to join the service and fight, but his skills as a carpenter were put to use for the war effort. He worked at the Boston Navy Yard (BNY) as a ship fitter throughout the war along with three other men from Walpole MA. They car pooled every day to BNY due to the rationing of gasoline during the war, the four of them took turns each week one of them would drive. We think carpooling began back in the seventy�s during the fuel shortages, those guys were doing it way back in the 1940�s.
There is no way for me to know what ships my grandfather helped build so I chose the Bennett for three reasons. First, I wanted to build a Fletcher that was built at BNY in honor of my grandfather. My grandfather died before I was born. Second, I�m presently building a square bridge Fletcher and I would like to build a round bridge Fletcher. The first five Fletcher's that were built at BNY were of the round bridge type. Third, the Bennett was hit by a kamikaze late in the war like the Haggard, but she was repairable and received the kamikaze upgrade of the two quad 40mm guns and six twin 20mm Oerlikon�s. This is how I came to choose the Bennett.
The Bennett started out like all early round bridge Fletcher Class Destroyers. This Information was copied from the Destroyer History web site: http://destroyerhistory.org/fletchercla ... &pid=47302 with a few corrections made as noted.
Bennett was fitted with the original high, round bridge carried over from the Sims class. Like other 2,100-ton Fletcher-class destroyers completed in 1943, specifications for Bennett, were similar to those published for Strong:
DATA
Name: United States Ship Bennett
Type: Destroyer
Namesake: Warrant Officer Floyd Bennett, USN
Navy Classification: DD 473
Class: DD 445, Fletcher
Builder: Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts
Keel laid: 10 December 1941
Launched: 16 April 1942
Commissioned: 9 February 1943
Disposition: Decommissioned: 18 April 1946. Sold to Brazil: 15 December 1959; renamed Paraiba. Sold for scrap: 1978.
Length Overall: 376' 5�"
Extreme Beam: 39' 8"
Normal Displacement: 2,050 long tons
Draft: Light: 8' 1"; Mean: 13' 5" Deep: 22�8�
Designed Complement: Officers, 34; Enlisted, 295
Designed Shaft Horsepower: 60,000
Designed Speed: 36 knots
Screws: Two
Rudder: One
Stacks: Two
Tactical diameter: 950 yards at 30 knots
Endurance: 4,800 nautical miles at 15 knots.
Bennett�s initial armament was that of a typical high-bridge Fletcher-class destroyer completed in early 1943, with five 5-inch guns in single mounts, six 40mm guns in three twin mounts (two in elevated gun tubs in way of the after stack and one between the 53 and 54 mounts) and ten 21-inch torpedo tubes in quintuple mounts plus 20mm guns both aft and forward (including one on a sponson forward of the bridge on one on the flying bridge) and depth charges.
Primary: 5 x 5-inch/38 cal. in five single mounts
Long-range anti-aircraft: 6 x 40mm Bofors in five twin mounts
Short-range anti-aircraft: 11 x 20mm Oerlikon in single mounts
Torpedo Tubes: 10 x 21-inch in two quintuple mounts
ASW: 2 racks for 600-lb. charges; 6 �K�-guns for 300-lb. charges
Her electronics were also typical:
Radar: SC (air search) and SG (surface search), Mk 37 (fire control)
Sonar: QC
In late 1944, Bennett was modified at San Francisco to carry the typical 1943-44 arrangement with which all Fletchers were fitted by March 1945: 20mm singles removed from the sponson and flying bridge, 40mm twin mounts replacing the 20mm on either side forward of the bridge:
Primary: 5 x 5-inch/38 cal. in five single mounts
Long-range anti-aircraft: 10 x 40mm Bofors in five twin mounts (Note: It was stated as having three twin and two quad 40mm mounts. This took place in 1945. This is the only correction made to this document.)
Short-range anti-aircraft: 7 x 20mm Oerlikon in twin mounts
Torpedo Tubes: 10 x 21-inch in two quintuple mounts
ASW: 2 racks for 600-lb. charges; 6 �K�-guns for 300-lb. charges
After she sustained damage from the kamikaze strike on 6 April 1945, Bennett was modified again to carry the emergency anti-aircraft refit, with 40mm quad mounts replacing the 40mm twins abreast of the after stack (which necessitated the removal of the forward bank of torpedo tubes) and 20mm twins replacing the singles: two on the fantail and two on each side at the waist:
Primary: 5 x 5-inch/38 cal. in five single mounts
Long-range anti-aircraft: 14 x 40mm Bofors in three twin and two quad mounts
Short-range anti-aircraft: 12 x 20mm Oerlikon in twin mounts
Torpedo Tubes: 5 x 21-inch in one quintuple mount
ASW: 2 racks for 600-lb. charges; 6 �K�-guns for 300-lb. charges
I would like to dedicate my build of the USS Bennett DD-473 to my grandfather Lawrence Henry Francis Barstow. My grandfather was a carpenter whom lived in Walpole Massachusetts with his wife Lillian and their eight children (7 boys and 1 girl). During the great depression he supported his family by building houses on the property he owned in Walpole. He built one house per year by himself with the help of his sons when needed. He did everything from the foundation to the roof and everything in between including the kitchen cabinets. The first house my grandfather built, he even dough out for the foundation by hand.
Then the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and dragged the United States into WWII. My grandfather was too old to join the service and fight, but his skills as a carpenter were put to use for the war effort. He worked at the Boston Navy Yard (BNY) as a ship fitter throughout the war along with three other men from Walpole MA. They car pooled every day to BNY due to the rationing of gasoline during the war, the four of them took turns each week one of them would drive. We think carpooling began back in the seventy�s during the fuel shortages, those guys were doing it way back in the 1940�s.
There is no way for me to know what ships my grandfather helped build so I chose the Bennett for three reasons. First, I wanted to build a Fletcher that was built at BNY in honor of my grandfather. My grandfather died before I was born. Second, I�m presently building a square bridge Fletcher and I would like to build a round bridge Fletcher. The first five Fletcher's that were built at BNY were of the round bridge type. Third, the Bennett was hit by a kamikaze late in the war like the Haggard, but she was repairable and received the kamikaze upgrade of the two quad 40mm guns and six twin 20mm Oerlikon�s. This is how I came to choose the Bennett.
The Bennett started out like all early round bridge Fletcher Class Destroyers. This Information was copied from the Destroyer History web site: http://destroyerhistory.org/fletchercla ... &pid=47302 with a few corrections made as noted.
Bennett was fitted with the original high, round bridge carried over from the Sims class. Like other 2,100-ton Fletcher-class destroyers completed in 1943, specifications for Bennett, were similar to those published for Strong:
DATA
Name: United States Ship Bennett
Type: Destroyer
Namesake: Warrant Officer Floyd Bennett, USN
Navy Classification: DD 473
Class: DD 445, Fletcher
Builder: Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts
Keel laid: 10 December 1941
Launched: 16 April 1942
Commissioned: 9 February 1943
Disposition: Decommissioned: 18 April 1946. Sold to Brazil: 15 December 1959; renamed Paraiba. Sold for scrap: 1978.
Length Overall: 376' 5�"
Extreme Beam: 39' 8"
Normal Displacement: 2,050 long tons
Draft: Light: 8' 1"; Mean: 13' 5" Deep: 22�8�
Designed Complement: Officers, 34; Enlisted, 295
Designed Shaft Horsepower: 60,000
Designed Speed: 36 knots
Screws: Two
Rudder: One
Stacks: Two
Tactical diameter: 950 yards at 30 knots
Endurance: 4,800 nautical miles at 15 knots.
Bennett�s initial armament was that of a typical high-bridge Fletcher-class destroyer completed in early 1943, with five 5-inch guns in single mounts, six 40mm guns in three twin mounts (two in elevated gun tubs in way of the after stack and one between the 53 and 54 mounts) and ten 21-inch torpedo tubes in quintuple mounts plus 20mm guns both aft and forward (including one on a sponson forward of the bridge on one on the flying bridge) and depth charges.
Primary: 5 x 5-inch/38 cal. in five single mounts
Long-range anti-aircraft: 6 x 40mm Bofors in five twin mounts
Short-range anti-aircraft: 11 x 20mm Oerlikon in single mounts
Torpedo Tubes: 10 x 21-inch in two quintuple mounts
ASW: 2 racks for 600-lb. charges; 6 �K�-guns for 300-lb. charges
Her electronics were also typical:
Radar: SC (air search) and SG (surface search), Mk 37 (fire control)
Sonar: QC
In late 1944, Bennett was modified at San Francisco to carry the typical 1943-44 arrangement with which all Fletchers were fitted by March 1945: 20mm singles removed from the sponson and flying bridge, 40mm twin mounts replacing the 20mm on either side forward of the bridge:
Primary: 5 x 5-inch/38 cal. in five single mounts
Long-range anti-aircraft: 10 x 40mm Bofors in five twin mounts (Note: It was stated as having three twin and two quad 40mm mounts. This took place in 1945. This is the only correction made to this document.)
Short-range anti-aircraft: 7 x 20mm Oerlikon in twin mounts
Torpedo Tubes: 10 x 21-inch in two quintuple mounts
ASW: 2 racks for 600-lb. charges; 6 �K�-guns for 300-lb. charges
After she sustained damage from the kamikaze strike on 6 April 1945, Bennett was modified again to carry the emergency anti-aircraft refit, with 40mm quad mounts replacing the 40mm twins abreast of the after stack (which necessitated the removal of the forward bank of torpedo tubes) and 20mm twins replacing the singles: two on the fantail and two on each side at the waist:
Primary: 5 x 5-inch/38 cal. in five single mounts
Long-range anti-aircraft: 14 x 40mm Bofors in three twin and two quad mounts
Short-range anti-aircraft: 12 x 20mm Oerlikon in twin mounts
Torpedo Tubes: 5 x 21-inch in one quintuple mount
ASW: 2 racks for 600-lb. charges; 6 �K�-guns for 300-lb. charges
I can't believe how detailed it is. The gun is meant to be assembled in a static position. Being an ex-machinist I put my own spin on it.