Haskell Class Attack Transport conversion

Wow, Jim. I bought a Montrose a couple of years ago when ROG rereleased them. Now they are rare and expensive, I see.

I've seen that model converted into a Victory, but not the other way around. I would imagine a Victory can be found in resin, as a start.

Why don't you send me a PM? Trade or something...

the Haskell Attack Transport Class was a modification of the Victory Ship into an amphibious assault ship carrying landing craft and up-armored with 40mm and 20mm anti-aircraft weapons. A conversion back to a Victory Ship could be easy by eliminating the landing craft and anti-aircraft weapons.

Jim

I built BOTTINEAU (APA 235) for a customer using the BlueJacket VICTORY kit and plans from the Smithsonian.  It involved a lot of conversion, including lengthening the 01 level, building different kingposts, adding 24 LCVP and their davits, and much more.  I'll see if I have any photos of it at work tomorrow and upload them.

Al Ross

What Al suggests would be the class of the lot. Maybe BJ should look at an APA.

I'll second that motion, for what little it's worth: attack transports make superb models. And the ships themselves were extremely important participants in WWII - in both European and Pacific theaters. A good, modern APA kit in either plastic or wood, in any scale, would be most welcome. (I know there have been at least a couple in resin.)

A few years ago I bought a memoir of a man who served on board an attack cargo ship (AKA) in the Pacific war. (I can't lay hands on it at the moment, and my senile memory has forgotten the author's name; the title, I believe, was Fully Loaded. A few minutes' web searching for it turned up nothing.) In the introduction the author commented that there had only been two widely-known books about WWII auxiliaries. Both are fiction: Away All Boats, by Kenneth Dodson, and Mister Roberts, by Thomas Heggen. Both were made into movies (and Mister Roberts was a Broadway play as well), and were well received by the public. (The Naval Institute Press republished Away All Boats as part of its "Classics of Naval Literature" series.) I'm afraid, though, that this enormous segment of the WWII naval effort is slipping out of people's memories.

Around our house when I was growing up, this aspect of the war was well-known indeed. My father spent six months as a boat group officer on board an APA in the Pacific. I don't remember how many times I built the Revell and Renwal APA kits - and the Lindberg LCVP as well.

Of course, there are lots of ships beyond battleships, carriers, cruisers, and destroyers that make nice models. I think we're in a Golden Age of warship kits at the moment; maybe Dragon or Trumpeter will give us an APA, an AKA, etc. one of these days.

The Revell  flat bottoms are probably the base models for me. Add to that the 1/535 Missouri.

I cut out the little postage stamp sized pictures of the "Picture Fleet" from the side panels of the first kit and wished at B days and Christmas for the rest. I really wanted the Currituck.

Recently with some cash I put together a Pine Island, a San Juan Capistrano as a navy oiler, and stashed a Montrose.

Then comes the Trumpeter Liberty, and I lost my interest in flat bottoms.

There was a good thread on my T-2 if you care to look for it

Onyx an did a post war Victory from the Revell kit. Truly a work of art.

He also gave me a hull from the Hawaiian Pilot which I think is a C-3 from which to make a Bogue.

But then of course Hasegawa issues the Gambier Bay for a lot of money, under the circumstances probably worth it.

I'll just sat that those old Revell flat bottoms are really the nexus of the plastic ship industry from the mid fifties to the mid sixties.

T-2

C-3

V

And a tug

Even if there is a good Victory ship model out there converting it to a Haskell class APA would take a lot of work. The hull would be the same up to the main deck level but then the fun begins. There is a second level forward of the deckhouse over #2 hatch and a second level aft of the deckhouse over #4 hatch. These housed the troop officer quarters forward and a full hospital aft. Then aft of #5 hatch was a structure that had a boat engine machine shop as well as ready service ammunition rooms on the main deck level and served as a platform for two 40 mm twin guns above. Back to the deckhouse there were two triple bank Whelin davits port and starboard. Forward on the focsile level were another pair of twin 40s. Still further forward was a structure over the anchor windlass that had a ready service ammunition room and served as a platform for a quad 40mm. There also was a 5"38 open mount on the fantail although war time victories had them as well.

The deckhouse itself would need to be reconfigured as the upper levels were added to to provide for spaces for radio equipment, and CIC. You need to add directors for the guns and of course the boats. 12 LCVPs for the Whelin davits, 4 LCVPs stowed two above two on #1 hatch. A mixture of 3 LCVPs and 3 LCPLs on #4 hatch and 2 LCMs on #5 Hatch. There also is augmented radar and ECM gear mounted on the tops of the masts.

Now what I am talking about is the final configuration in the 1960s. If you want to go back to WWII you will also need to add lots of batteries of 20 mm guns. These were long gone by the 60s.

Your best starting point would be the Revell Montrose. It is a reasonably accurate model if you are willing to accept the fact the the hull is neither waterline or a full hull. Somewhere in between.  

Here's BOTTINEAU in 1/192 scale from the BJ VICTORY kit..  The LCVPs are cast resin with laser-cut ramps and skegs.

Al Ross

Here is surface_line's build that may be instructive:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/t/104113.aspx

Dr. Tilley: http://www.amazon.com/Combat-Loaded-Williams-Ford-University-Military/dp/1585445568 sounds like your book. Bought it!

Later EDIT: So with a little research I see that Renwal sold a decent to good looking model of the USS Seminole AKA 104 on 1/500 scale back in the day, But good grief! One just sold on eBay for $ 192.00 and the one at Oldmodelkits.com is listed at $ 365.00.

Al thats a beautiful model.

Al,

Wonderful model, I'll use it as my benchmark.

Jim

GM - That's the book, all right.

I remember the Renwal AKA all right. As I remember, it shared quite a few parts with the same company's APA - 20mm and 40mm guns, LCVPs, etc. Both of them were, for their day, nice kits - and they had complete hulls, unlike the odd, sliced-off Revell APA.

A real oddball in the Renwal 1/500 series was the U.S.S. Compass Island (AG-153). She was a "navigational research test vessel." Why a model company would pick such a subject, with so many more obvious ones available, is a mystery. I built the kit when I was a kid; I haven't seen it for many years. I don't imagine many copies were produced.

Apparently Revell now has Renwal's molds. Maybe we can hope to see those kits again some day.

Well;

   I am in agreement here and as you'll see I wrote a thread on this . Al's ship is nice and I wish she were sitting on a shelf in my house !  T.B.

Very nice build on that BOTTINEAU in 1/192 scale! I did Trumpeter's 1/350 and found it was too small for my eyes. I really wish that one of the company's would issue a Troop Transport ship from WWll period. Did all of these companies completely forget about how we got our troops overseas to win the war? I would think that one of the company's would consider these ships a 'valuable asset' to WWll models ships. My dad shipped out from San Francisco aboard the G.O. Squier AP-130 troop ship on his way to Guadalcanal. It was a C4-S-A1 type hull built by Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond CA. I'd love to be able to build one in my father's honor some day.

fright, i'm using a Revell 1/480 scale hospital ship to build the General Squire.

http://www.mattsteinmodels.com/modelfleet/david-perry/16-04/SQUIER_port.JPG

http://www.mattsteinmodels.com/modelfleet/david-perry/16-04/SQUIER_ovhd.JPG

http://www.mattsteinmodels.com/modelfleet/david-perry/16-04/SQUIER-hull_bottom.JPG

http://www.mattsteinmodels.com/modelfleet/david-perry/16-04/SQUIER_stbd.JPG

http://members.boardhost.com/modelfleet/msg/1460915700.html

Al !

 Seeing this model did something to me . I wound up in memory , on the Bridge of the OCALA VICTORY as we crossed the Pacific . As her Chief Engineer I must say the company that owned her must've just got her from the builder .Turns out she was making her maiden voyage all these years later in 1979 ! !

    The company bought four surplus ships . All four were Victory's . None had seen service .They were put in mothballs as soon as they left the builders yard ! So she was like new and performed her job very well .

    What surprised me was that she rode well in most weather conditions too . The Engine was sound and beautiful in it's performance of the job required . Having a clean Engine Room and all was almost scary . Even the Boiler and Firebox faces were spotless !

   The crew accomodations were surprisingly large for the type and year built . The mess areas were very up to date and it helped that we had a good commisaryman on board . The new electronics seemed to have been installed in 1944 and not 1978 .

 She was a blend of the old and new and a pleasure to have served on .   T.B.

Jim

See my notes from May 2010, elsewhere in this thread. As you can see quite a lot was added to a plain victory hull to make it a Haskell APA. BTW the victory APAs of the Haskell class were very different from the ships used as AKAs. Not too long ago a complete set of the original drawings for the Haskell class were available from "Ship Plans, Maritime Collections, NMAH-5010/ MRC 628, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560.

I should caution you that even as constructed not all Haskell ships were the same when it came to the bridge area and above. And is the years went by various modifications were authorised but not all were carried out on all ships. So you need to know your ship and what era you are modelling it in.

Amphib

Hmm.

    I seem to remember a Haskell that had the most beautiful bridge area . It had been updated with more windows and more useable bridge wings .

     Honestly , I think it was in President lines freight service . I do believe some Haskells were modified into " Banana Boats " Too .  T.B.

2/20 Bluemax

I am currently collecting info to build a model of a Haskell Class Attack Transport for a friend. The problem is trying to find an available model of the Revell kit now OOP. Research revealed the Haskell Class ships were modified Victory ships. Has any one made the conversion or know what modifications are required to convert a Victory Ship to a Haskell Class Transport?

I don't know which Haskell Class ship you're working on, but the one I've been researching is the Haskell, which repatriated my great uncle and his family from a P.O.W. camp in China at the end of the war. I'd like to see a photo of your model once you complete it. 

Grga,

You replied to an old thread, and the posters may not still be watching.

At any rate, I built the Revell Montrose kit as a sister ship, USS Navarro, as her appearance during the war in Viet nam, for presentation to a friend who had been a crewman then.

I have just moved to a new photo hosting site, and I hope these links work properly:

https://flic.kr/p/J66b7X

https://flic.kr/p/21GdfNK

Rick

Surface_Line

At any rate, I built the Revell Montrose kit as a sister ship, USS Navarro, as her appearance during the war in Viet nam, for presentation to a friend who had been a crewman then.

Wow. I bet your friend was thrilled!

Surface_Line

Grga,

You replied to an old thread, and the posters may not still be watching.

Bill