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Sea of Thunder

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  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: USA
Sea of Thunder
Posted by nsclcctl on Friday, November 24, 2006 8:30 AM
If anyone is looking for a great read for the holidays, or a gift for that WWII nautical fanatic, this is the real deal.  It is written by Evan Thomas and it takes you into the South Pacific through the eyes of both Japanese and US admirals, Halsey in particular.  Really well written and makes you want to get that Hornet out and finish it up.  Take my advice, don't wait for the paperback or the movie, this is good.  I was curious, they are talking about the destroyers built around 43 and 44 and stated that they were over 300 feet long but only 39 feet wide!  Is that a mis-print, 39 feet wide?  How in the world do you fit anything in that space?
  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: Mansfield, TX
Posted by EdGrune on Friday, November 24, 2006 10:15 AM

Yup,  39 feet and change

CLASS - FLETCHER As Built.
Displacement 2924 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 376' 5"(oa) x 39' 7" x 13' 9" (Max)
Armament 5 x 5"/38AA, 4 x 1.1" AA, 4 x 20mm AA, 10 x 21" tt.(2x5).
Machinery, 60,000 SHP; General Electric Geared Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 38 Knots, Range 6500 NM@ 15 Knots, Crew 273.
Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny NJ. October 2 1941.
Launched May 3 1942 and commissioned June 30 1942.
Decommissioned January 15 1947, Recommissioned October 3 1949.
Reclassified DDE-445 March 26 1949 And back to DD-445 June 30 1962.
Decommissioned ? 1969.
Stricken August 1 1969.
Fate Sold February 22 1972 and broken up for scrap.

 

The width dimension and stability were one of the problems that the Navy faced throughout the war.   Read Summral's Sumner & Gearing class destroyers.   He mentions multiple times that the builders were constrained by the war effort and could not stop and retool to build a larger ship.  

The Fletchers were pre-war design, based largely on the preceeding classes.   The Sumners were slightly wider (IIRC - 11 inches),  but kept the same machinery.   The Gearings had a 14foot plug inserted into a Sumner hull for fuel and increased range.

Things grew such that the Spruances are the size of wartime cruisers

 

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: vernon hills illinois
Posted by sumpter250 on Friday, November 24, 2006 1:22 PM

Is that a mis-print, 39 feet wide?  How in the world do you fit anything in that space?

  Easy! , the physical activity of "hanging on", even while sleeping, kept the crew from getting too fat! The first ship I served in was a Sumner class,  DD-770, USS Lowry. She had been FRAMed, FRAM II, but was pretty tight, especially below decks. Besides, the ground floor of my condo is only 21' X 21' ( + or- a few inches )

Lead me not into temptation ..................I can find it myself

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