Greetings all,
just picked up Tamiya's 1/350th Fletcher class destroyer and have a simple question. In fact, I'm kinda' embarrassed to ask it, as I usually do better research, but time for me right now is severely limited, so here goes---
I know the Fletchers were big in the Pacific theater, but to what extent in the Atlantic? For instance; were there any Fletchers at Normandy, or on the Murmansk run for convoy duty? Can anyone give me any specific Fletchers that were used in the Atlantic for ASW operations, convoy hearding, etc. that I can follow up on as a subject?

Thanks to all in advance, I look forward to hearing from our community,

Fathom

I'm not sure Scott. Maybe if you did a search for destroyer squadrons and then looked at which ship served in that DesRon it would be easier. With over 160 Fletchers built, to look up each ship's movement will be a daunting task.

Well, you could go through every Fletcher class history on Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Fletcher_class_destroyers_of_the_United_States_Navy

Hi Scott

I had a quick flick through some of my humble references when I was in da studio earlier today. Whilst it would appear that most Flecher Class vessels served (and many lost) in the Pacific, my sources stated that many of those constructed on the eastern seaboard did see some fleeting action in the Atlantic - indeed the Class leader was prominent among these.

Hope that helps a little.

Cheerski

Karol

Another thing you have to check out is if the ship is a round bridge (Tamiya kit) or a square bridge (Trumpeter or Dragon)

Thanks one and all for your replies. I appreciate your support
And will update all as the project progresses.

Fathom

HI Scott!

Check out the comic early history of the USS William D. Porter. She was escorting the Iowa, with President Roosevelt onboard, conveying him and the senior military staffs to a Big Three conference in Tehran. During a weapons drill the Porter accidentally launched a torpedo at the Iowa, causing a great deal of consternation in the convoy. After another misstep by the Porter, the ship was detached on Admiral King's order and sent to Bermuda where the entire crew was confined on the ship as a board of inquiry was held.

Eventually the ship was returned to active duty and transferred to the Pacific. Word of her torpedo mishap preceded her and for some time afterwards, whenever the Porter would pull into a port, other ships would signal
"Don't shoot! We're Republicans!"

--Karl

What a great story! I truly appreciate you posting it. Those type stories
Add that human touch, thereby giving more "life" to
our models.

On the ways;

1/350 Fletcher class
1/72 Type II U-boat

I think Kenny's advice is probably very sound. Doing a check of where each DESRON was assigned will narrow the seach the quickest. Once you know which squadrons served in the Atlantic, you can start to do a search on each of the various ships to find out where they went during the war.

I did the Tamiya Fletcher a few years back, although by the time I was done, she looked very different than the OOB build. There are three major things to consider when choosing which Fletcher to build.

1) As Steve mentioned, do you want to depict a round bridge or a square bridge? The Tamiya kit is a round bridge which was the earliest style, with later versions going to the square bridge. There was a square bridge resin conversion kit that I used (before the square bridge kits came out) but I don't believe it's still available. I still wound up doing a lot of scratch building as I wanted to depict a specific ship at a specific point in time, and the kit was quite different than what I wanted.

2) What period during the war do you want to depict? This will determine how much you'll need to modify the armament on board. The Tamiya kit depicts the Fletcher in a very early war configuration. By the end of the war lots of changes had been made with respect to number and location of both 40mm and 20 mm as well as depth charges and even torpedo tubes.

3) What paint scheme do you want to depict? There are many to choose from and each individual ship may have worn several different ones over time.

Two VERY useful sites are the following:

http://www.destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/index.html

and

http://www.shipcamouflage.com/fletcher_class.htm

I would like to depict one of summer 1944, at the D-Day invasion
If I can verify a Fletcher was actually there. That's where I am with
My research now. I can't thank you enough for the reply. The info
Is helpful. I may, depending on how the build goes, post a build blog.

Thanks again,

Fair winds!