USS Trippe DD403

[Don Boose]

Ted wrote: “I believe one of the after turrets may have been just a gun house covered walls with a canvas top, but some pics looked a lot like a regular turret, so that's what was built.”

Ted – Let me say again how impressed I am by your Trippe build.

Your comment about the aft gun enclosures set me off down a naval history rabbit hole with inconclusive results (in part because I couldn’t find some key references).

A review of the literature available on my shelves leads me to the following provisional conclusions:

The first of the 1,500-ton Treaty destroyers, the Farragut class, introduced the five-inch, 38-caliber length, Mark 12 dual purpose gun (DP = capable of being elevated high enough to be used as anti-aircraft guns) mounted on deck pedestals and with the two forward guns protected by light splinter shields with open backs and the three aft guns on open mounts.

Subsequent 1,500-tonners followed the general pattern of the Farraguts with two single 3/38 DP guns forward, and two or three aft, with the forward guns partially (open back) or fully enclosed and the aft guns open, presumably to save weight. The pedestal-mounts were eventually replaced with base-ring mounts in which the ammunition lifting mechanism comes up through the base ring and the whole apparatus rotates with the gun.

The first post-Treaty destroyers, the 1,570-ton 1937 Sims class introduced the canvas-covered semi-enclosed or “half shield” gun mounts, which were lighter than the fully enclosed mounts but gave protection from spray in the North Atlantic winters. According to Friedman [p.94], “These half shields were applied retroactively to the Benhams [of which, Trippe was one] and later to the early Bensons."

Image 1 shows a Benson class with two of the aft guns in semi-enclosed mounts. Image 2 is a fuzzy close up. The artist, Paul Wright, has portrayed the canvas covers in a darker shade of gray, presumably based on photographic evidence.

The problem is, there were a lot of wartime modifications and replacement of gun mounts on U.S. destroyers, and I have been unable to find any documentation on what kind of aft gun mounts Trippe had at various times during the war. Somewhere in the house I have a wartime publication of the Office of Naval Intelligence that may have a photo, but I cannot find it in my increasingly chaotic library.

The one image that I have found [Adcock, p.13], reproduced below as Image 3 with a close up at Image 4, can be interpreted either way. When I look at that image, I see full gun enclosures exactly as you have portrayed them in your model. But the Devil’s Advocate may point out that the top of the No. 3 is of a darker gray, rather like the canvas covers portrayed in the Wright painting.

So, for my money, you made the right choice and, right or wrong, you have built a splendid model that more than does justice to USS Trippe and is very pleasing to my eye.

Fair winds and following seas Brother,

Don

References:

Al Adcock, US Destroyers in Action, Part 3, illustrated by Don Greer, Warships Number 21, Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, 2004.

James C. Fahey, The Ships and Aircraft of the United States Fleet, Victory Edition, New York: Ships and Aircraft Press, 1945.

Norman Friedman, U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History, Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1982.

Dave McComb, US Destroyers 1934-45: Pre-war classes, illustrated by Paul Wright, Oxford: Osprey Publications, 2010.

[birder]

Looks like a nice model

[CMDRTED]

Guys thank you. Don I actually believe it is a gun house. Not sure whether it was "builders fatigue" and just went "easy" or just went with some pics of a built up plastic version on model ships web site. I did change the bridge square windows to the rounded portholes, deleted the port ship boat and added the vents on the midships deck and 40mm director towers. Like I alluded to before "builder fatigue".

[FRD]

Very impressive for such a small scale...

[wireandpaper]

Originally Posted by birder

Looks like a nice model

Looks like a great model.
Thank you for sharing. For me it is always nice to see builds in 1/400.
The level of detail is enviable, in a good way!

[Mike1158]

A very fine build, nice to see. Open gun mount or turret notwithstanding. Pretty sure it would have a turret at some stage if possible.

[Formerly Styrene]

One very cool Benham class destroyer model!

I believe the pre-war Benhams were designed with a concern for a lower center of gravity thus the lighter gun mounts, they also didn't opt for the massive quad 40 bandstand berween the funnels (or aft of the funnel for the Benhams) that the 2100's were almost all updated to during the war.

With the Fletchers they landed a torpedo mount and added the quad 40's on practically all of the Fletchers thus beefing up the anti-aircraft capabilities for the Pacific. The Benhams were relegated to North Atlantic convoy duty. With their 5/38's they had adequate AA but did not but did not encounter the swarms of hostile aircraft that were the norm in the Pacific.

This beautiful model reveals what a trim vessel the Trippe was.

Thanks for sharing the pics

David
aka Formerly Styrene

[dhanners]

VERY nice build! And I hope your recovery continues uneventfully….

[Gerry1966]

I have to say, your ship models are some of the nicest I've ever seen.

[CMDRTED]

Gerry you laid all the ground work, I just added a few garnishes to your modification. Thanks for the ship models. I'm working up to aircraft, in my mind the larger pieces are more sensitive to my twitches and are a bigger pain if I mess one up.