Destroyers - the coolest ships on the sea

I like the big powerful battlewagons, specially when firing their big guns!  Another favorite are the Higgins and Elco PT's, specially the late War Elcos with the heavier armament and roll off racks.

Indeed. PTs and Schnellboots would be my second favorite. The whole idea of speed, strike, run. Cool.

If you have that much of a thing for them I suggest you get the 1/350 DML "Buchannon"...or "Gleaves" class...

Both great looking boats.

I shall consider it sir!

I've served on both a CV (John F Kennedy), and a DDG (USS Lawrence) and I gotta tell you the DDG was lots more fun. Fast, maneuverable, armed to the teeth and most important for the crew, when we visited a foreign port we could moor right to the pier. The carriers all have to anchor out and you gotta ride the liberty launch to get to the beach. Besides, even when underway you can always find a quiet place to just sit and think. Waaaay to many peeps on a carrier and entirelly too much noise from the flight ops which go on just about 24/7....Destroyers Rule......Rick M

I totally share your idea Spotty. I can add that, my best favourites among destroyers are those early pioneers, especially the sleek, turtleback "30 knotters". So ironic, descendents of those little auxiliaries overthrew the mighty battleships and cruisers to become the major gun armed surface units. I'm waiting impatiently for the issue of Flagman's "30 knotter type" imperial russian destroyers.

Spotty wrote:

With this in mind I have just started Revell's re-issue of the USS Campbeltown. For a big complex model though, I'm kinda thinking of this gem. http://www.internethobbies.com/trum12russov.html

I have this Trumpeter 1:200 model in my stash. It is one of the best value in modern destroyer model. You can find it for under $40 with free shipping on Ebay. Search for "Trumpeter 1/200" or for Ebay Store "Must_bid".

Rick Martin wrote:

I've served on both a CV (John F Kennedy), and a DDG (USS Lawrence) ......................Destroyers Rule......Rick M

Nice perspective. Cool to hear it first hand!

Of the seven ships I served in, three were destroyers. One Sumner class DD, and two Farragut class DLG/DDG. The FRAM II Sumner is still my favorite. Small enough to get into trouble quickly, big enough to get out!

They are very cool but don't take torpedo hits well...from my experience one torp hit will usually sink it...

Speaking as a 24 year Submariner, I loved serving on small ships.  There is a greater sense of comaraderie; the crew identifies with the ship and with each other. 

My Dad served onboard USS Hancock (CVA-19) and USS Benjamin Stoddert (DDG-22).  He much preferred Destroyer duty for the same reasons that each of you have mentioned.

Bill Morrison

My uncle served on a destroyer as a Purser in WW2, but I didn't get the idea from him that it was particularly fun, especially on picket duty at Iwo Jima, or Okinawa, and having the bow blown off by a torpedo at Guadalcanal in the middle of a firefight between Japanese battleships and American cruisers wasn't too cool either.... They had to sit there and hope no-one would notice them while the shells flew back and forth over their heads..... Probably a lot better in peacetime!

I served on Ranger CVA-61, Lexington CVT-16 and Theodore Chandler DD-717. The destroyer duty was by far the most rewarding and fun except in very heavy weather, then a CV didn't seem like such a bad place to be. Also, if you can believe it, a carrier is actually easier to steer. Tin cans have a tendency to wander if you aren't vigilant at the helm.

Fair enough. I'm not a combat vet or anything like that.

When I say cool, it is in an esthetic way. (and a fantasy way too I suppose)

I guess its a struggle many modelers deal with. We like armour and guns and such.

But ultimately its about killing people. Not a good thing.

I just shut that part of my mind out. Not exactly noble on my part.

Bottom line. I think destroyers look cool.

Spotty wrote:

(and a fantasy way too I suppose)

...could you expand on that?

 Well, in a video game kinda way, I can mentally escape and fantasize that I'm piloting one of these destroyers, or mayby a schenllboot, trying to defend or shoot the enemy. I find it mentally fun and stimulating.

In reality though, shooting a torpedo at someone is going to result in deaths. Thats hardly entertainment.

I like SOME destroyers aesthetically, but I prefer heavy cruisers and battlecruisers.  High speed and a heavyweight punch, with at least some armor to get you home.... I have been working on several destroyers, the heavy cruiser 'Atago' and some preliminary work with the battlecruiser Kongo, all in the same 1/350 scale.  When you put these ships side by side, and then think of the incredible bravery of those destroyer boys in taking on heavy cruisers and battlecruisers in a knock-down-drag out fight like Leyte Gulf or Guadalcanal, you gotta wonder how they could walk, their cojones were so big......! 

  i like the clemson & wickes class 4-stackers . they are the sharpest destroyers i think. the ones in the asiatic fleet took the brunt of the fighting durning the first months of the pacific war.

 For me I like the look of the japanese destroyers. They were nimble, Fast and had good firepower for their size. Plus their general looks with that peculiar knifedge bow has just got something about them.Especially when i was just looking at my Hasegawa Yukikaze. It will make a good comparison to my Buchanan and Laffey from Dragon. 

Agreed, the Japanese ones have a particular distinctive "knife edge" to them.

I'm a CV guy, but I have to admit, that the DDG 51s are sexy looking ships.


Mike

spotty    I wish I could invite you to 8 months of sea duty on a tin can .the gearings are those (which i spent most of my time on - both f.r.a.m. and pre f.r.a.m. ). I guarantee you that it would be many months before you decided to even look at the ocean . Even the gearings ,their primary rule was one hand for the ship one for yourself . What appears to be a moderate sea on a c.v.a. can be a spot of a challenge for the tin can sailor . I will grant that as aesthetics go my faves would in order be fletchers , gearings ,buckley class d.e. and the ubiqiutus four stack like the campbelltown , I did have a chance (4 mos.) to ride the U.S.S. john paul jones ,the last of the classical looking destroyers and it wasn,t too bad ,but the atlantic never was my cup of tea . I do believe even in moderate seas it was better duty in the pacific . the cold in the atlantic (especially north atlantic ) was enough to make most wish they had never heard of sea duty .... by the way , most of my tanker commands were so big i couldn,t use the panama canal . still, the north atlantic was the devil for a destroyerman ....   tankerbuilder

One thing I always appreciated about submarine duty . . . we would dive under the rough weather!

Bill Morrison

This,

still, the north atlantic was the devil for a destroyerman ....

combined with this,

One thing I always appreciated about submarine duty. . . we would dive under the rough weather!

Brought a laugh, Destroyermen all know about "diving under the rough weather".....we spent enough time "under water"!! :) :) 

You've got to go pretty deep to escape the effects of bad surface weather.

tankerbuilder wrote:

spotty    I wish I could invite you to 8 months of sea duty on a tin can .the gearings are those (which i spent most of my time on - both f.r.a.m. and pre f.r.a.m. ). I guarantee you that it would be many months before you decided to even look at the ocean . Even the gearings ,their primary rule was one hand for the ship one for yourself . What appears to be a moderate sea on a c.v.a. can be a spot of a challenge for the tin can sailor .....

As I indicated before, I live in a fantasy world when it comes to this and never claimed the real thing was fun, cool, easy or anything else enjoyable.

Spotty wrote:

tankerbuilder wrote: spotty    I wish I could invite you to 8 months of sea duty on a tin can .the gearings are those (which i spent most of my time on - both f.r.a.m. and pre f.r.a.m. ). I guarantee you that it would be many months before you decided to even look at the ocean . Even the gearings ,their primary rule was one hand for the ship one for yourself . What appears to be a moderate sea on a c.v.a. can be a spot of a challenge for the tin can sailor ..... As I indicated before, I live in a fantasy world when it comes to this and never claimed the real thing was fun, cool, easy or anything else enjoyable.

Last night I sank a Tribal class Destroyer in the North Sea...we heaved to a lifeboat to give the survivors compass directions and some water...they confirmed that riding in destroyers was like riding in a washing machine..

'......And then I woke up!!'

My Dad served on the Rooks and the Steinaker during Korea, but he says if you REALLY want to feel the motion of the ocean, try crossing the Pacific in an LSM.  He was a comm specialist from the LSMs Brooklyn Navy Yard launching all the way to Manilla in 1945.  It just bobbed like a cork no matter what the sea was! 

Me, I've always liked the look of the Fletchers. The Sullivans was the second model I ever built back in the mid 60s. Arizona was the first!