Destroyers - Fletcher Class

[Gun Grape]

I missed my chance to visit the USS Kidd on my recent trip to Texas. Saw it going over the bridge though. I had planned to stop on the way out to my sons boot camp graduation. But have you ever tried to tell a mother that she has to wait one more day before seeing her son, just so you can see a boat? let me tell you it ain't pretty Especially since he is our only child.

On the way back Baton Rouge was getting the outer bands of Harvey. Seemed like a good idea to head back home. Same thing with the USS Texas. Even that early in the game Houston was having roads flooding.

[Albany Rifles]

I think that bridge is up around Bayonne, NJ.

[blidgepump]

Mom's direction ....

I missed my chance to visit the USS Kidd on my recent trip to Texas. Saw it going over the bridge though. I had planned to stop on the way out to my sons boot camp graduation. But have you ever tried to tell a mother that she has to wait one more day before seeing her son, just so you can see a boat? let me tell you it ain't pretty Especially since he is our only child.

On the way back Baton Rouge was getting the outer bands of Harvey. Seemed like a good idea to head back home. Same thing with the USS Texas. Even that early in the game Houston was having roads flooding.

GG, I understand... thus almost all of my tours are solo while my wife checks out the local flower gardens .....

[blidgepump]

Bridge ....

I think that bridge is up around Bayonne, NJ.

That is one heck of a bridge.... thanks for the info !!

[bbvet]

I think that bridge is up around Bayonne, NJ.

- Albany Rifles

I am not disputing this, but I googled the Bayonne area yesterday (actually the entire New Jersey/New York & New England coastal area) and can't find that bridge. It's a double bridge (over two bodies of water) and I haven't been able to come up with anything that matches. Given the fact that the bridge in the photo is probably 1950s/60s vintage and the spans could very well have been rebuilt/replaced - still haven't been able to locate it. But - I would love to know where it actually exists!!

[kato]

"The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Murray (DDE-576) passing under the John P. Grace Memorial Bridge, South Carolina (USA), circa in the early 1950s. She recommissioned at Charleston, South Carolina, on 16 October 1951."

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F..._the_1950s.jpg

The bridge was demolished in 2005 alongside a second, parallel one built in the 60s. The bridge visible was 1920s vintage.

[blidgepump]

Way to go Kato .....

"The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Murray (DDE-576) passing under the John P. Grace Memorial Bridge, South Carolina (USA), circa in the early 1950s. She recommissioned at Charleston, South Carolina, on 16 October 1951."

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F..._the_1950s.jpg

The bridge was demolished in 2005 alongside a second, parallel one built in the 60s. The bridge visible was 1920s vintage.

The mystery is solved, Kata excellent digging!

[bbvet]

Kato - "U" d man!! Thanks for clarifying the locale, etc. of the mysterious bridge!!!

[Albany Rifles]

I was going off of memory from the 1970s driving from DC to Boston on the Jersey Turnpike. I remember in Northern Jersey crossing under a bridge like the one in the picture. There was even a heavy cruiser tied up next to it. But now I do remember that bridge. We went to Charleston several times in the late 1980s and crossed that bridge into town. Its also the way you had to go to pick up your car when it came in from Germany!.

[blidgepump]

Stormy day ...

After missing several rainstorms here on the Great Plains mother nature arrived this morning with a week long shower.
This picture posted on another board offers some appreciation for "riding on a Fletcher DD"....

"Your imagination can not fathom what this is like for a whole day or two. You go about your chores best you can, nobody fluffs the day off. You check for water damage and leaks, rod soundings of the voids. Pump the chain locker,(that was always difficult .) No main meals, Sandwiches and coffee. AND it did not cost a dollar for the ride." John V Machai

[kato]

I remember in Northern Jersey crossing under a bridge like the one in the picture. There was even a heavy cruiser tied up next to it.

A bit to the northeast perhaps: The eastern bridge between Queens and the Bronx (Throgs Neck Bridge? - built around 1960) has an overall similar layout, passing two bodies of water - although the bridge shape itself is rather different. There's even a quay underneath in the middle - near Fort Schuyler with a Navy ROTC unit - slightly to the side that in current Google Earth pictures has a cruiser-sized ship tied up there.

[blidgepump]

THe shearing edge of a Fletcher....

Literally this upward view of a Fletcher DD provides a keen appreciation for the term shearing edge...

[Albany Rifles]

A bit to the northeast perhaps: The eastern bridge between Queens and the Bronx (Throgs Neck Bridge? - built around 1960) has an overall similar layout, passing two bodies of water - although the bridge shape itself is rather different. There's even a quay underneath in the middle - near Fort Schuyler with a Navy ROTC unit - slightly to the side that in current Google Earth pictures has a cruiser-sized ship tied up there.

Yup...that's it!

[blidgepump]

Bridges ....

Yup...that's it!

A very unique bridge that makes a great photo!

[bbvet]

Here's a link to what life aboard a FLETCHER DD was really like - it's from the 1950s, but would fit exactly with those of us who crewed them in the '60s.

https://youtu.be/8RHcz1KS7F8

Hank

My edit. - This is from the USS SAUFLEY - after she was converted to an ASW destroyer - it is more about living conditions aboard ship than at sea footage, etc. However, it is a good video for seeing the interior of a typ. FLETCHER tin can.