Hi folks,
The Spence was a highly decorated destroyer, winning the Presidential Unit Citation for its service in Guadalcanal with DesRon 23, the famed "Little Beavers". It was Spence's boiler problems that led to the squadron's reduced speed the night before the Battle of Cape St George, earning Captain (later Admiral and CNO) Arleigh Burke his legendary epithet, "31-knot Burke".
Spence was lost in a violent typhoon on the night of 16-17 December 1944, barely two months after an extensive refit and modernisation with the latest radar, ECM and AA armament. She was one of three destroyers lost as a result of the storm, which practically dismantled the invincible Third Fleet and claimed the lives of over 800 US sailors (including all but 19 of Spence's crew).
Spence makes an interesting modelling subject for its striking dazzle-painted colour scheme (only 5 Fletchers carried this scheme, intended for light cruisers) and the fact that it was a heavily modernised, round-bridge example which means it fits the Tamiya kit quite well without needing extensive remodelling.
I hope this will help as a reference build for anyone else wishing to make a late-war version from the basic Tamiya kit.
Alan