USS Fletcher DD-445

USS Fletcher DD-445 next to USS North Carolina BB-55; both ships are built to the same scale!

(As ever, click on the thumbnail for a larger image on any of these)

Tamiya, 1:350 scale

USS Fletcher (DD-445) was the lead ship in a very important class of WWII-era destroyers.  175 of these tough little ships were built between 1941 and 1944, and they served in every theater of operations.  Fletcher herself was laid down on 2 October 1941, launched 3 May 1942, and commissioned 30 June 1942.  She served with distinction throughout the last three years of the war, receiving 15 battle stars for her service during that war.  She earned another 5 stars for her service during the Korean War, also.  She was in and out of active service until she was decommissioned in 1969 and scrapped in 1972.

Several sources I have read and listened to cite the Fletcher class as the ideal combination of armor, armament, speed, reliability and range in her time.  Many heroic acts were committed by Fletcher crews and groups, such as Taffy-III in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Having built a bunch of the big battlewagons, I wanted to try my hand at the smaller ships; what better one to try that the famous Fletcher herself?  So, I bit down on my macho battleships-only pride and bought a Tamiya 1/350 scale kit for her.  The build was more difficult than I first expected - lots of little details I didn't see in the behemoths I had been building.  The rudder even moves!  Anyway, my building skills continue to return (actually, I think I have far surpassed my earlier levels - that's not to sound cocky, it just means that I wasn't as good at building model ships as I thought I was...  Humble Pie, anyone?)

So I got the Fletcher done, and took some pictures.  I hope you like them...

Fletcher laid over on her side; the "dazzle" paint scheme she is often shown in was only worn briefly; the last two years of the war she was painted as shown in these images.

Fletcher standing back up, showing her characteristic WWII-era blue decks.  That paint color is NOT easy to find, by the way...

One more for scale:  The IJN Musashi (top), USS Fletcher (middle), and USS North Carolina (foreground) - all of these ships are accurately depicted in 1/350 scale.

Hint:  Look closely at the higher-resolution image of this one...