The kit started out as the Tamiya Fletcher, which is an early war round bridge ship. I had decided to build a square bridge version, with the "emergency AA" refit which represents the final war design of this class, so naturally there was quite a bit of modification required.
I used the Tom's Model Works Fletcher Conversion kit to get the square bridge, along with quite a bit of scratch building. Alan Raven's "Fletcher Class Destroyers" and Lester Abbey's book of the same title were essential to provide photo references and drawings. The 5" turrets are the Corsair Armada with the late Steve Nutall's brass barrels. Quad and twin 40 mm are the L'Arsenal as well as their Mark 37 Gun director, twin 20mm, life rafts, 26' whale boat, and Mk 51 directors. The anchors and searchlights and torpedo tubes came from Yankee Modelworks. The PE is a combination of Tom's Modelworks and the Gold Medal Models sets.
The ship is depicted as she appeared at the end of the war. The USS Healy was present in Tokyo Bay along with the USS Missouri during the surrender ceremonies in 1945.
Additional photos are in my gallery.
The USS Healy was named after Commander Howard Raymond Healy, Damage Control Officer on board the USS Lexington, CV-2.
"During the Battle of the Coral Sea, Lexington took two torpedoes and two bomb hits 8 May 1942, and despite heroic damage control could not be saved. Commander Healy died on board and was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for his courage, leadership, and professional excellence during the battle to save his ship. Commander Healy perished at his battle station."
