I'm thinking abotu getting involved with a new hobby. I found some info and regulations about groups that build R/C ships (1900-1946 era 1:144 scale vessels) and equip them with CO2 powered steel BB "guns" They then go out and stage battles, which usually end up with ships on the bottom. ( Repairs can be made quickly and your ship can actually be sunk several times in one day..)

I'm looking for info on WWII-era Coast Guard Cutters. The best one I can find is the Taney. She was fit with 4 main guns (2 fwd, 2 aft). She's my best fins so far for a convoy-escort ship. Does anyone know of any other cutters that were more heavily armed?

Thanks!!

Check out the 255' WPG with the WW2 armament
http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/WHEC_Photo_Index.asp

I read about the R/C battles a few years ago myself. Since the 255 and 327 both end up with a total of 4 5" you may want to go with the 327 as the extra length would make it a bit easier to fit the parts for the firing mechanism inside.

But ya' gotta wonder....do you really want to throw your CG Cutter up against a battleship?

ABSOLUTELY!!! Gotta have some USCG pride!!! (while fitted with WWII armament, mine would wear modern-day white with the racing stripe...)

I also think that a smaller, faster vessel just might be able to tackle a large, lumbering battlewaggon. Slash and run!!!

quote:

I also think that a smaller, faster vessel just might be able to tackle a large, lumbering battlewaggon. Slash and run!!!

As long as they don't actually allow the battleship to follow the same specs as original, only down to the correct scale. Ever see the actual armor on those suckers?

You might also find it interesting to check out the DE's the CG manned during WW II.

there ARE allowances for armor... but gun velocity is equal. Gun bore is scaled as well, which is why I'm looking for the most guns i can bring to bear, and a small, fast ship...

The DE's only had 3'/50's as the main guns and weren't all that fast.

Look at the USN 4-piper destroyers we used in the Rum War for speed.

Here's a pic of a 255 with her WWII armament:


Here's Tany's unique fit:


The rest of the 327's looked like this for much of their convoy duties:

The blue and white camo would be neat to see.

quote:

The DE's only had 3'/50's as the main guns and weren't all that fast.

I wasn't aware of that until now. Thanks.

The 255's weren't exactly speed demons either, so going with the Taney (my first ship) would be a good choice. When I was on in '60-62 she could still hit 20 knots.

DEs in WW II had a lot of various armament configurations. About half had 3-3" .50 cal. guns, some had 2-5" .38 cal. guns and some had 3-5" .38 cal. guns. This main armament was accompanied by various AA weaponry from 40 mm to .30 cal. Some even had torpedo tubes.

It is great fun to research these small ships.

ooo torpedo tubes!!!

those are simulated by large caliber cannon in the model engagements...

It appears not all of the CG-manned DE's had torpedo tubes - all had hedgehogs and depth charges, yes, but not all had tubes.

Here's a list of the WWII CG-manned DE's:

HULL# NAME
151 POOLE
152 PETERSON
249 MARCHAND
250 HURST
251 CAMP
252 HOWARD D. CROW
253 PETTIT
254 RICKETTS
255 SELLSTROM
316 HARVESON
317 JOYCE
318 KIRKPATRICK
319 LEOPOLD
320 MENGES
321 MOSLEY
322 NEWELL
323 PRIDE
324 FALGOUT
325 LOWE
382 RAMSDEN
383 MILLS
384 RHODES
385 RICHEY
386 SAVAGE
387 VANCE
388 LANSING
389 DURANT
390 CALCATERRA
391 CHAMBERS
392 MERRILL

You can look up specific ship info on Navsource here: h t t p://www.navsource.org

The CG did re-commission some DE's during the Korean War (as WDE's) and used them as weather/ocean station ships. Here's a pic of identified as the Durant:

NOTE: The hull #'s on the WDE's were changed when commissioned into the CG.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tip_dog,

Looks quite similar to the 327's.

Another destroyer escort.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mastersmate,

Could not possibly do better than that!

can anyone tell me what caliber the 4 main guns are??

The main battery on the TANEY were four 5" guns. This was never repeated on the other ships of the 327' class. If you want a CG ship with firepower, the CGC GLACIER fielded two 5", six 3", 20mm's and hedgehogs.
I recall an article in Scale Ship Modeler(circa 1985)regarding combat models in Eastern Europe. Their ship models were very scale in every respect and as detailed as any museum model would be. But the main armament were 22Cal. rounds, each turret was custom made by the builder. The models were of non-balsa construction(heavy wood planks), but only one hit by a salvo sent a ship to the bottm of the pond!

Hmmm... I found the Owasco class cutter:



dual 5 inch guns fore and aft, WWII fitting. The first cutter was finished shortly before the end of the war, but it just might do for what I'm looking for...

Dual 5" fore and aft on the 255, two single 5" fore and aft on the 327's. Same amount of firepower but you could move the 4 singles independently.....

That I could, but for a first-timer, having the duals is probably a better deal. After I get the hang of things, the individual turrets might be the way to go...