Thursday, December 6, 2012

New Model Update: USS California

USS California (BB-44), one of two Tennessee-class battleships completed shortly after World War I, was the fifth ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 31st state.[3] She served in the Pacific her entire career, and for twenty years was the flagship of the Pacific Fleet. She was sunk in the attack on Pearl Harbor at her moorings in Battleship Row, but was salvaged and reconstructed. She served again for the remainder of World War II before being decommissioned in 1947. She was sold for scrap in 1959.

On 7 December 1941, California was moored at the southernmost berth of Battleship Row and was with other dreadnoughts of the Battle Force when the Japanese launched their aerial attack. Watertight integrity had been impaired by preparations for a material inspection; and the ship suffered extensive flooding damage when hit.[8] One torpedo detonated below the armor belt between Frames 46 and 60, and a second detonated below the armor belt between Frames 95 and 100.[9] At 0845, a 551 lb (250 kg) bomb entered the starboard upper deck level at Frame 60, passed through the main deck, and exploded on the armored second deck, setting off an anti-aircraft ammunition magazine and killing about 50 men.[10] A second near miss bomb ruptured her bow plates.[8] Smoke from fires started by the bomb hit caused evacuation of the forward engine-room at 1000 and ended pumping efforts to keep California afloat.[8] After three days of progressive flooding, California settled into the mud with only her superstructure remaining above the surface.[8] When the action ended, 100 of her crew were lost and 62 wounded. Machinist's Mate 1st Class Robert R. Scott was one of the sailors who lost his life on 7 December, refusing to leave his battle station, even as it flooded, "as long as the guns keep firing". Also killed was Chief Radioman Thomas Reeves who organized hand delivery of anti-aircraft ammunition when the equipment to lift it to the guns was knocked out. He was overcome by smoke and fire below decks while leading this effort. Both men were awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for their heroism and had Destroyer Escorts named in their honor, USS Reeves (DE-156) and USS Scott (DE-214).
On 25 March 1942, California was refloated and dry-docked at Pearl Harbor for repairs. On 7 June, she departed under her own power for Puget Sound Navy Yard where a major reconstruction job was accomplished, including improved protection, watertight compartmenting, stability, antiaircraft battery, and fire control system. Her original twin funnels were combined into a single funnel faired into the superstructure tower as with the newer South Dakota class. The original 5 in (130 mm)/51 cal guns of the secondary battery and the 5 in (130 mm)/25 cal guns of the anti-aircraft battery were replaced by 16 5 in (130 mm)/38 cal guns in new twin mountings.[5] Her appearance was nearly identical to that of Tennessee and West Virginia, which were rebuilt after the Pearl Harbor Attack to resemble South Dakota-class battleships. Like her sisters, she was a virtually new ship built on the bones of the old.[11]
As part of the two ocean navy policy, U.S. battleships had been designed within a beam constraint of 108 feet (33 m) in order to transit the Panama Canal; after their similar rebuilds, Tennessee, California and West Virginia were widened to 114 feet (35 m) feet, in effect limiting deployment to the Pacific theater.

California departed Bremerton, Washington on 31 January 1944 for shakedown at San Pedro, California, and sailed from San Francisco, California, on 5 May for the invasion of the Marianas. Off Saipan in June, she conducted effective shore bombardment and call fire missions. On 14 June, she was hit by a shell from an enemy shore battery which killed one man and wounded nine. Following Saipan, her heavy guns helped blast the way for the assault force in the Guam and Tinian operations from 18 July to 9 August. On 24 August she arrived at Espiritu Santo for repairs to her port bow damaged in a collision with her sister ship that was also present at Pearl Harbor with California, Tennessee.
On 17 September, California sailed to Manus to ready for the invasion of the Philippines. From 17 October to 20 November, she played a key role in the Leyte operation, including the destruction of the Japanese fleet in the Battle of Surigao Strait on 25 October. On 1 January 1945, she departed the Palaus for the Luzon landings. Her powerful batteries were an important factor in the success of these dangerous operations driven home into the heart of enemy-held territory under heavy air attack. On 6 January, while providing shore bombardment at Lingayen Gulf, she was hit by a kamikaze; 44 of her crew were killed and 155 were wounded. Undeterred she made temporary repairs on the spot and remained carrying out her critical mission of shore bombardment until the job was done. She departed on 23 January for Puget Sound Navy Yard, arriving on 15 February for permanent repairs.


California returned to action at Okinawa on 15 June, and remained in that embattled area until 21 July. Two days later, she joined Task Force 95 (TF 95) to cover the East China Sea minesweeping operations. After a short voyage to San Pedro Bay (Philippines) in August, the ship departed Okinawa on 20 September to cover the landing of the Sixth Army occupation force at Wakanoura Wan, Honshū. She remained supporting the occupation until 15 October, then sailed via Singapore, Colombo, Ceylon, and Cape Town, South Africa, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, arriving on 7 December. She was placed in commission in reserve there on 7 August 1946, out of commission in reserve on 14 February 1947, stricken on 1 March 1959, and sold for scrapping on 10 July 1959 to Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Sparrows Point, Maryland.



Battleship 1941
Scale: M: 1:25
Length: 60” Height: 22” Bredth: 10”
Price: $1450
Shipping: $Free


This model was built by Vaclav Niedermertl, a master model maker. Vaclav has spent most of his life building ship models and has received numerous Bronze and Silver Medals in both his homeland of the Czech Republic and in Vienna where he won the Silver and Bronze medals of Europe from NAVGA.
The Model you see here is entirely scratch built using only Wood, Museum Board and a pulp based compound. EVERYTHING is made by scratch/hand.

Featured Boat: USS Arleigh Burke



The USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51), named for Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, USN (1901–1996), is the lead ship of the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers. She was laid down by the Bath Iron Works company at Bath, Maine, on 6 December 1988, and launched on 16 September 1989 by Mrs. Arleigh Burke. The Admiral himself was present at her commissioning ceremony on 4 July 1991, which was held on the waterfront in downtown Norfolk, Virginia.
The Arleigh Burke's designers incorporated many lessons learned by the Royal Navy during the Falklands campaign and from the USS Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers. The Ticonderoga-class cruisers were supposedly becoming too expensive to continue building, and were supposedly too difficult to upgrade. The Arleigh Burke's design includes what is now better known as stealth technology, which improves the ship's ability to evade anti-ship missiles. She also uses a slightly downgraded version of the Aegis missle system, allowing the launching, tracking, and evading missles simultaneously. Furthermore, her all-steel construction provides good protection for her superstructure, while her Collective Protection System allows her to operate in environments contaminated by chemical, biological, or radiological materials.
Even before the USS Arleigh Burke was commissioned, the Commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force, was involved in the initial phases of testing. New systems, operated by fleet sailors ashore, were examined at land-based test facilities. The combat systems testing took place at the Combat System Engineering Development Site in Moorestown, New Jersey. The propulsion plant testing occurred at the Gas Turbine Ship Land-Based Engineering Site in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. These test results supported the acquisition decision to begin limited production of the ship class.



After being commissioned, and throughout 1992, the Arleigh Burke conducted extensive testing at sea. As is often the case with new ship classes, U.S. Navy officers and shipyard engineers encountered a number of problems with some shipboard systems that required the attention of this warship's design and production agencies. An additional phase of testing was added to verify the effectiveness of the modifications made to these systems – modifications incorporated into later destroyers of the Arleigh Burke class.
Following her initial operational testing, the USS Arleigh Burke was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and the Adriatic Sea in 1993, serving as the "Green Crown" during Operation Provide Promise. During her second deployment in 1995, the Arleigh Burke steamed in the Mediterranean as the "Red Crown" in support of the No-Fly Zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina. During her third cruise, in 1998, she steamed in the Mediterranean Sea, Adriatic Sea, Red Sea, and Black Sea, as a participant in numerous American and Allied exercises. During her fourth cruise in 2000–2001, the Arleigh Burke saw service in the Mediterranean and Red Seas and in the Persian Gulf, enforcing United Nations sanctions against Iraq and conducting exercises with allied naval partners.
On her fifth deployment in 2003, the USS Arleigh Burke and the other units of the USS Theodore Roosevelt-led carrier battle group participated in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. During this wartime cruise, the Arleigh Burke fired Tomahawk missile strikes against targets in Iraq, escorted merchant ships and naval auxiliaries through geographic choke-points, and carried out "leadership interdiction" operations in the northern Arabian Sea. She also undertook counter-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden. This cruise, which lasted from January through June 2003, saw the Arleigh Burke at sea over 92 percent of the time.
In March 2003 she was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 2.[1]
The USS Arleigh Burke has earned one Navy Unit Commendation, three Meritorious Unit Commendations, three Battle Efficiency E Awards, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Kuwait Liberation Medal, and five Sea Service Deployment Ribbons.
As a member of Destroyer Squadron 2, the Arleigh Burke operated with the USS Theodore Roosevelt Strike Group under the direction of the Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Group Eight.
In May 2007, the Arleigh Burke ran what the Navy is calling "soft aground" off Cape Henry Light at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay.[2] Her captain, Commander Esther J. McClure, was relieved of her command shortly thereafter as a result of "loss of confidence in her ability to command".[3][4]
In October 2007, the Arleigh Burke was involved in anti-pirate operations in 2007 in Somalia.
In 2009, the Arleigh Burke was deployed to the eastern coast of Africa in support of AFRICOM's Africa Partnership Station. The ship represented the United States during a port visit on the island nation of Seychelles where they played a role in securing a status of forces agreement between the two countries.
In August 2010, the Arleigh Burke entered the BAE Systems Ship Repair shipyard in Norfolk, VA for DDG Modernization, a program to upgrade the ship's systems and to extend service life to 40 years.
On 19 April, Tom Hum of General Atomics, indicated that DDG-51 may become the test platform for a new railgun capable of launching projectiles at Mach 5 or Mach 6.



1996

Scale: 1/8 M: 1:96

Length: 58” Height: 20” Breadth: 8”

Price: $1450

Shipping: Free

  



This model was built by Vaclav Niedermertl, a master model maker. Vaclav has spent most of his life building ship models and has received numerous Bronze and Silver Medals in both his homeland of the Czech Republic and in Vienna where he won the Silver and Bronze medals of Europe from NAVGA.

The Model you see here is entirely scratch built using only Wood, Museum Board and a pulp based compound. EVERYTHING is made by scratch/hand.




Tuesday, November 27, 2012

New Model:D-520 Blue Devil (Fletcher Class)

In 1941, the US Navy began building a fleet of large destroyers, its first design to rival the Japanese “special type” destroyers that had first entered service more than a decade before. These 175 flush-deck “2,100-tonners” became, “in retrospect . . . the most successful of all American destroyers: fast, roomy, capable of absorbing enormous punishment, and yet fighting on.” Thanks to postwar service in the US plus fourteen foreign navies, they remained a familiar sight around the world into the 1990s.

The Model you see here is entirely scratch built using only Wood, Museum Board and a pulp based compound. EVERYTHING is made by scratch/hand.


Destroyer
Scale: 1/8  Metric: 1:96
Length: 47” Height: 19” Bredth: 5”
Price: $595
Shipping: $85