Free Sumner plans

The Owens was definitely Sumner class not Gearing. Just over 376' hull versus 390'+. It's true there is an amazing amount of info available for research. I bought the Robert F. Sumrall book and it's not cheap but it's full of details. I also liked Navsource and Destroyers on-line. Problem is most of the old timers from WWII and the pre-FRAM years have passed away. There aren't a lot of old shipmates of my Dad to contact. I am still working on the research and saving up the $$ to do it right and not settle for something "generic".

Nah, I don't count rivets...but...there's no excuse for not doing the research, especially with USN subjects, since there's so much information on them...

Jeff

Thanks, Jeff. In a way, you make my point. If you want to build a model of a particular ship, you have to identify her. As far as hull numbering goes, the rule of thumb is as I stated. With exceptions, And, to that, you have to add Varients.
A Varient could be a change as minor as the location of ready-service lockers, or as major as the power plant.
And the Varient could be a one of a kind, or several ships of the same class.
Then there are changes made by C.O.s during construction and overhauls, plus changes ordered by BuShips.
Now, is this important to the modeler? It depends. How big is the model? Bigger models require more detail.
Who's the intended audience? For some, if the gun mounts and super structure look close, and the hull number matches their ship, it's great.
For nuts like Jeff (no insult intended) and me, you'd better have your rivet pattern, and, count right.
But, most importantly, what do YOU want? Make your decision, collect the info, and build it. Anyone who doesn't like it can go build their own. Besides, buddies, who served together ,don't always remeber the same things, so who's to say?
Mike

Gearings were longer than the Sumners by 14 feet, basically, at the widest point in the hull, between the funnels. The frames of USN vessels are numbered, with the exception of the Gearings. The plug that was inserted were lettered A through G, after that, the numbers continued on in sequence. The main differences were the location of the 5" practice loading machine, and the addition of a central hatch on the main deck.

Furthermore, many Sumners left the yards with the short 40mm boxes on either side aft of the bridge, as well as 3 different combinations of bridge structures. Gearings left with high (6ft. increased) 40mm boxes to improve the field of fire, and the final, 3rd type bridge.

With regards to hull numbers, just remember that Fletcher (DD445), Sumner (DD692) and Gearing (DD710) all had hulls that crossed over the next class in line, so don't try to compare hull numbers and assume that everything between 445 and 692 were Fletchers, etc...Fletchers used hull numbers up to DD804, Sumners up to 857, and Gearings up to 890. In the case of Gearings, the early ships were started as Sumners, DD710-721, and were converted on the ways into Gearings. Gearings don't start sequential numbering until DD817, USS Corry. From that point on, hull numbers up to 890 are Gearings. Prior to 817, it's a mix of Fletchers and Sumners.

Jeff

I realize that this is a little late, but, for what it's worth,the Owens (DD-776) was a Gearing class, not Sumner. USS Gearing was DD 710 so any hull number up to the Forest Sherman (9??) would be a Gearing. There were many small variations among them, so you might want to talk to someone who served on her, during your time frame of interest. The main difference, between Sumners and Gearings, was that the Gearings were a little longer.
For drawings, you're at the right place, with Floating Drydock. He has an excellant set of McCandliss drawings, of the Gearinng, in 1:96 scale, W.W.I.I. configuration.
If you have question, give Tom a call, he can be very helpfull.
Mike

The Sumner plans went to a good home already. If I end up with any more surplus stuff I will post a message.

So, how does one avail of your kindness o benevolent one? Thank you from the bottom of my bildge.

Ian.

I will take them, I was looking for a set of fletcher plans. The gearing plans are almost the same. all the basic info that I need is there. Please get in touch with me A.S.A.P. thanks.