Destroyers - Fletcher Class

[blidgepump]

Tin Cans .....

All classes of DD's were nicknamed appropriately " Tin Cans".
The tours taken aboard BB's CL's DD's and SS's all drive home the same point.... DD's were fast ships and limited steel made them fast.
A Memorial such as this brings that point forward with deep reflection...

[blidgepump]

This Youtube video is worth your time...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3sCYEVFRMI

A stirring narrative of a famous Fletcher class DD...... as told by Admiral Holloway and the Battle of Surigao Strait.

[blidgepump]

Follow up.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3sCYEVFRMI

A stirring narrative of a famous Fletcher class DD...... as told by Admiral Holloway and the Battle of Surigao Strait.

http://malacanang.gov.ph/8799-battle-of-leyte-gulf/

The link above provides a general recap of the battle.
Interesting citations at the bottom of the webpage offer more insight that was found to be of interest.

[blidgepump]

Sharing information ....

John V Machai post from the USS Eaton's Facebook page is being shared about the unfortunate Fletcher Class DD crossing in front of a BB circa 1956...

USS Eaton (DD-510) was a Fletcher-class destroyer in the service of the United States Navy from 1942 to 1946. She was recommissioned from 1951 to 1969 and sunk as a target in 1970. On Sunday, May 6, 1956, at approximately 3:14 PM the USS WISCONSIN BB-64 collided with the USS EATON DDE-510. This happened off the Virginia Coast during heavy fog.

Deck log: http://www.usswisconsin.org/wp/collision/

[bbvet]

And here is EATON in 1964:


All's well that ends well!

[Builder 2010]

It's the equivalent of a locomotive hitting a truck. After impact, I'm surprised it didn't go completely through, but I imagine it just crunched and then pushed the DD sideways until the big ship could stop. The BB is 45,000 t and the DD is 2,500 t, 18X the mass. Newton had something to say about that.

[blidgepump]

Broken mast......

Here's the Hood DD 655 with a broken mast after being hit in a North Sea storm. Ash can racks were torn off the stern of other cans. The Sigourney DD-643, survived, barely.

[bbvet]

Looks to be a "twist of fate" - luckily, I never had the good fortune to serve in the North Atlantic or ANY Atlantic!!!!

Thanks for the interesting photo!

[Builder 2010]

Looks like one of my models after a piece of cardboard fell into the mast. I was using a piece of white cardboard as a plain backdrop for picture taking. It fell forward, hit the mast and knocked of the radar installation. It was a mess and a living example of the Murphy corollary "The law of selective gravitation" where when something falls it does the worst possible damage.

[blidgepump]

Model damage....

Looks like one of my models after a piece of cardboard fell into the mast. I was using a piece of white cardboard as a plain backdrop for picture taking. It fell forward, hit the mast and knocked of the radar installation. It was a mess and a living example of the Murphy corollary "The law of selective gravitation" where when something falls it does the worst possible damage.

While my models were not very detailed, I not the less was sadden when damaged occurred.
Somewhere stored away in a secure cardboard box are several ships in "mothballs". I think I'd cry if I had a robust model well detailed that suffered a random accident.....

[blidgepump]

Christmas Day 1961....

This photo was supplied from another Fletcher-DD thread but fits well into the season....
It looks cold! Yes there are 6 whole degrees showing on the thermometer with snow currently falling... come on Spring.

Note these ships are reportedly tied up in a port near Hamburg.

[kato]

in a port near Hamburg.

If it's christmas it should be Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The two were escorting CVS-9 Essex at the time, with the carrier group staying 9 days over christmas '61 in Rotterdam and going on to visit Hamburg on January 5th.

[blidgepump]

Follow up ....

If it's christmas it should be Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The two were escorting CVS-9 Essex at the time, with the carrier group staying 9 days over christmas '61 in Rotterdam and going on to visit Hamburg on January 5th.

Kato, I've reached out to the original person who posted this photo on another DD-thread and he was unable to quote the dates.
But from the snow in the photo; shore leave must of been chilly. Happy New Year.

[kato]

The snow was supposedly gone pretty quickly. Cruisebook for Essex for that cruise, starting with Rotterdam from this link:
https://www.navysite.de/cruisebooks/cv9-61/048.htm
Hamburg starts here:
https://www.navysite.de/cruisebooks/cv9-61/063.htm

Two other Fletchers in Hamburg on that cruise here, DD-689 USS Wadleigh and DD-535 USS Miller:
https://www.navysite.de/cruisebooks/cv9-61/072.jpg
Miller was reactivated from reserve training duty for that occasion, Wadleigh was decommissioned six months later.
DD-804 USS Rooks seems to also have been along on that cruise (decommissioned seven months later).

Four Fletchers with Essex in the Scottish Seas, can't quite make out the fourth one - probably DD-562 USS Robinson though:
https://www.navysite.de/cruisebooks/cv9-61/086.htm

[Boilermaker9]

Shore Steam

It is my understanding that a fire main exist in parts of the DD.
As the climate cycles in the Charlestown area the cold weather is a problem for the restoration efforts on board.
The attached pictures provide an illustration of a small boiler system on board the Cassin Young in the forward washroom.
As explained any changes to the DD require NPS approval and must adhere to cosmetic restrictions before any work commences.
Presently moving steam to the extreme ends ( bow & stern ) using these small plants is not sufficient to overcome the cold Boston temps.
It's times such as this that I miss our resident O-6 CHENG to elaborate on the steam tables, thermo dynamics and all that other good stuff he was such an excellent tutor.
An idea being floated by the volunteers is replacing the supply of original steam heat piping with an alternate heat source hidden inside the ductwork thus mitigating the extreme temperature differentials .....

This leads to yet another question?

When any ship had "cold iron" and was connected to dockside electrical & water .... where did the heat come from when docked in cold climates ????

Good afternoon Gentlemen I have been following this board for quite time and enjoy it immensely! I was a boilermaker in the Navy during the 60's to mid 70's I cut my teeth on the 445, 692 and 710 boilers, they were all the same.

The "06" as the good "Captain" was fondly referred to, was a joy to read. He was accurate and easy to understand. I wish my Navy instructors were the same! I am very sorry for his passing.

Shore steam was generally provided on the pier at stateside side bases and repair activities, and since in the Fletchers, as well as in most combatants of the era were all equipted with steam hot water heaters, heat exchangers, laundry equipment and some galley equipment, such coppers or steam kettles, serving lines, and steam cookers, to name a few. All of this called "Hotel Services". The "aux services" were Lube Oil and Fuel Oil heaters for the aux machinery such as the main engines, all the pumps and the fuel-heaters which needed to be kept warm. Note: Navy Special Fuel Oil had to be heated to about 110 degf to pump and 130 degf or so to burn. Another decision for another time. Bottom line steam was a necessity not a luxury. So provisions for it were provided.

This pier service was generally provided stateside on most bases and shipyards. In theater all repair ships and floating DD had shore steam capability although pier side in those areas it was difficult to get shore steam, so the ships stayed lit off, steaming auxiliary on one boiler and one generator. They didn't use the evaporator in port, except for make up feed. Too much contamination in harbor water for evaporators to remove for potable water. The evaporator was designed to remove salt water contaminants generally found in the ocean, not a harbor. If ships were "nested" from the pier with no shore steam, then one ship in the nest would stay lit off and service the remaining ships in the nest. If the ships were there a long time they would alternate providing steam. When they tied to a AD or AR that ship would supply the shore steam. They would also stay lit off stateside if no steam was available, which happened at times.

Electricity was an unintended consequence of staying lit off, as one needed to keep a generator on line to complete the steam cycle. This is because the dc heater, booster pump, the feed pump, and hotel services did not generate enough load to keep the boiler constantly firing. With a generator on then the load remained constant. Again one must remember that back in WW2 most combatants and government built ships had all steam auxiliaries. Steam was a definite need, even in the pacific. This is the way it was into the 70's. The newer ships today have electric auxiliaries. The Diesel driven DE's of the period all had Aux boilers (Donkey Boilers) similar to what you currently find in schools and small industry, are now called "package boilers", and those provided hotel services and aux services on those ships.

Each fwd fire room on a 445 had a shore steam deck riser on the port and stbd side, fwd of frame 92.5, #1 fire room aft bhd (bulkhead). For that matter they were installed on every steam driven ship. Now, gentlemen all of the above is based on my limited experience, knowledge and historical info I have gathered over the years. So if I am incorrect please let me know and or please feel free to add or subtract as necessary. Will not hurt my feelings, at 71 you are never to young to learn, again this is one great board!

I will send image of ref drawings in follow on next post. Thanks again!