Destroyers - Fletcher Class

[blidgepump]

Excellent detail of Bofors manufactured by Chrysler ****

"One ship shot down 32 enemy planes in 30 minutes with the new guns — so new they had not yet been test-fired. :gunut:

Read more at [/url]http://www.allpar.com/history/military/bofors.html

[bigross86]

Linky no worky...

[blidgepump]

Linky no worky...

I should confess my typing scores in high school were not at the level my mentors desired.
But I was surrounded by a lot of friends who got me through the course.

Try this link... it is quite a recital.

Chrysler Corporation, Gun Maker: Bofors Guns of World War II

[blidgepump]

Various types of 40mm shells used - Information

The 40mm arsenal aboard the Fletchers DD's information
U.S. 40mm Bofors Anti-Aircraft (WWII) - Inert-Ord.Net

[USSWisconsin]

The Chrysler site is great, I've read it before looking at engines, saw a trivial error attributing twin guns and watercooling to Chrysler, the Dutch Hazemeyer system turned over to Britain had both of these before 1941. Overall it is very interesting and the error detracts very little from the overall article and less still from the acheivement. The Swedish invented it, the US redesigned it and made it into a practical high volume production weapon to counter the threat of Japanese naval air power.

Here's another good link
http://www.eugeneleeslover.com/AMMUN...-GUN-BOOK.html

[Ken_NJ]

Here's another good link
40MM-GUN-BOOK

This link had a link to a Navy video of how the 40mm gun worked. Very fascinating video seeing all the mechanics of the gun explained and functioning.

[blidgepump]

This link had a link to a Navy video of how the 40mm gun worked. Very fascinating video seeing all the mechanics of the gun explained and functioning.

The Bofors 40MM gun is an example of a great idea that kept getting better,..... with the involvement of the Germans, Swedish and then the US of A.

Even the swivel mounting on a 360 degree turntable is a classic!!!

[Gun Grape]

Where there any foreign navy's that specifically requested the Fletcher's be transferred to them, rather than the old Bensen/Gleaves class?

Don't think so. The Benson/Gleaves/Livermore class were pretty much worn out by the end of WW2. About 1/3 of them had been converted to Destroyer Minesweepers.

I can find only a handful of them transferred to other Navies.

The Japanese, Italian, Greek, Turkey and Rep of China with the RoC getting the most in the 1950s.

[blidgepump]

Don't think so. The Benson/Gleaves/Livermore class were pretty much worn out by the end of WW2. About 1/3 of them had been converted to Destroyer Minesweepers.

I can find only a handful of them transferred to other Navies.

The Japanese, Italian, Greek, Turkey and Rep of China with the RoC getting the most in the 1950s.

"These 175 flush-deck “2100-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 1990's, ... Thirty-two were transferred to the navies of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Peru, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey.

I doubt the reference to the quoted recital that the Fletcher class was roomy! Illustration will be presented later to present this author's opinion about how compact Fletchers truly were.

A follow up question about Archduke question to GG. What happened to all the 4-stackers the US "loaned" England? Did they scrap them of did the US of A get them back?

[blidgepump]

One class of Destroyer the 40mm's didn't go !

While the U.S. Navy embraced the Bofors...

This link had a link to a Navy video of how the 40mm gun worked. Very fascinating video seeing all the mechanics of the gun explained and functioning.

The Gridleys’ stability and hull strength were concerns throughout their careers, however. Modifications could not be made without trade-offs, and even as danger grew from suicide air attack, they remained the only goldplaters that the navy never dared fit with 40mm Bofors due to the topweight penalty.

[Gun Grape]

"

A follow up question about Archduke question to GG. What happened to all the 4-stackers the US "loaned" England? Did they scrap them of did the US of A get them back?

Those ships were not loaned to England. They were transferred as part of the "Destroyers for Bases" agreement.

The ships that survived WW2 were either sunk as targets or sold as scrap by the UK.

[Ken_NJ]

The UK was not sentimental to keeping famous ships as museums. Only the Belfast. To bad a KGV class or the Warspite cannot be seen today. Then again no sentiments about warships obtained from other nations.

[USSWisconsin]

The UK was not sentimental to keeping famous ships as museums. Only the Belfast. To bad a KGV class or the Warspite cannot be seen today. Then again no sentiments about warships obtained from other nations.

I recall a good explanation to the lack of retention of fine ships like Warspite in a thread several months back, the timing was bad. The UK was in such financial straits after WWII that the steel in the ships had to be given up as a token of the efforts to dig out, more than a few tears were shed over Warspite and Vanguard, but the bankers needed their tons of steel more than the UK could afford to save them, despite the ardent desires to do so. Warrior was missed in this rush to scrap, very much by accident, had someone noticed her, she would have been broken up too. I suspect this "accident" was very intentional in some places. Those fine WWII era BB's were too famous at the time to permit this to happen.

[blidgepump]

I recall a good explanation to the lack of retention of fine ships like Warspite in a thread several months back, the timing was bad. The UK was in such financial straits after WWII that the steel in the ships had to be given up as a token of the efforts to dig out, more than a few tears were shed over Warspite and Vanguard, but the bankers needed their tons of steel more than the UK could afford to save them, despite the ardent desires to do so. Warrior was missed in this rush to scrap, very much by accident, had someone noticed her, she would have been broken up too. I suspect this "accident" was very intentional in some places. Those fine WWII era BB's were too famous at the time to permit this to happen.

It speaks to the wealth of a nation that saves her trophies of war. How many civilizations who were great beat the swords of war into plowshares to evolve only in another form to recite the practice again?

[blidgepump]

Originally Posted by Ken_NJ This link had a link to a Navy video of how the 40mm gun worked. Very fascinating video seeing all the mechanics of the gun explained and functioning.


"the 40mm gun and the mark 14 gun sight began to arrive in large numbers in the fleet by 1942 and this combination gun system gets the blue ribbon for shooting down the most aircraft during the war"given the number of guns in action, thousands of rounds were being fired at each target to try to get a kill. We were there to win and we won by killing the enemy in large numbers. It took thousands of rounds of ammunition to make sure we shot down as many planes as we could and win the battles and the war with the least loss of life to our troops.

So when i am asked how many rounds it took to bring down a plane i am not impressed by the question.

Cost of material was no object. Winning was all important and in the shortest time possible.

Gene slover
fire controlman, usn

This gentleman's remarks fall in line with the Captain of the CV that mounted as many guns as possible, having them fire at once in the general direction of an approaching enemy aircraft to create a curtain of flying steel.