USS Mullany, the ship that out-sailed time

[ArnoldAmbrose]

       Gidday All, many years ago while in a doctor's waiting room I picked up a copy of a Reader's Digest. In the book section at the rear was a story "The Ship That Out-Sailed Time". The article told the story of USS Mullany, a Fletcher-class destroyer. I read the article, was fascinated by it and never forgot it, it was quite a story. I've wanted to do a Fletcher class for quite some time, in particular this ship, and a few months ago I decided to do her. Those of you who know me will know of my preference for the 1/600 scale in ships, and as there was no kit I knew of that I could use I scratch built her.

       USS Mullany was a later square-bridged Fletcher class destroyer. She was laid down on 15th January 1942, launched on 10th October 1942 and commissioned on 23rd April 1943. After a short stint near the Aleutians she was assigned to the South West Pacific. There she had a charmed life, gaining a reputation for near invincibility. In April 1945 she was assigned to radar picket duty off Okinawa. On 6th April she was attacked by four kamikaze aircraft and it seemed that her luck had run out. The first aircraft was a Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa 'Oscar'. Although it was taken under fire and hit repeatedly the aircraft held together and crashed into the port side of the aft deckhouse. The aft half of the ship became an inferno, with ammunition and depth charges cooking off in the fire, causing severe damage and horrific casualties. Despite half her guns out of action she shot down the next two attackers and drove off the other.

       Despite all this her luck still seemed to stay with her. The crew abandoned ship fearing magazine explosions but the fires burnt themselves out. A selected scratch crew re-boarded her and got her under way again, to safety and ultimately back to the USA, under her own power despite the severe damage she'd sustained. She was repaired and returned to service. She served with distinction in Vietnam, the accuracy of her 5-inch guns was legendary. She served elsewhere, finally decommissioning on 6th October 1971. By that time she was the oldest serving destroyer in the USN. She was sold to the Taiwanese Navy and served them until 16th July 1999.

       Here is my small tribute to her. I've depicted the ship as I think she appeared on the day the kamikaze hit her. I've used a few parts from kits - the two searchlights are from an Airfix Belfast kit, modified slightly. The two boats and their davits are also Airfix, probably Belfast. The anchor cable is simply cotton thread and the search radar atop the fore-mast is gauze, re-inforced with PVA glue. Everything else is scratch built from styrene. Paint is Humbrol enamels, applied with brushes. I've also made a model of the aircraft that hit her, a green painted Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa 'Oscar'. The plane carried an auxiliary fuel tank and a 500lb bomb. And while many of us probably find it difficult to understand the mentality of the kamikaze pilots I acknowledge that they were fighting for their country too.

 

And here is Mullany's nemesis, the Ki-43 Oscar, also scratch built in 1/600 scale.

 

One second before the kamikaze hit her:-

       Assuming she was doing about 20 knots the ship would have travelled (in 1/600 scale) 17mm in that last second, about the wingspan of the aircraft. The kamikaze was doing about 300mph and would have travelled about 220mm in that time, a bit more than the length of the ship. I spared no effort or expense with the sea base. 🙂

       And at the final instant:-

Naturally the guns were engaging the aircraft and not fore-and-aft as I have them. The plane hit the aft deckhouse between 53 and 54 mounts.

 

       When USS Mullany made it back the the USA she was repaired as a kamikaze-killer it seems. This involved the removal of the forward set of torpedo tubes, the midships twin 40mm Bofors (43 and 44 mounts) replaced with quad mounts, the aft most single 20mm Oerlikon removed and all the others replaced with twins.

Below is a 1/700 scale model of a sister-ship USS The Sullivans that had this modification too. I've included her here to show the difference between these two configurations of Fletcher class destroyer, and also to show the difference in size between 1/600 and 1/700 scale models.

 

For those interested in the build log:-

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235123013-uss-mullany-dd-528/

 

Thank you for your interest. Regards to all, Jeff.

[Alan P]

Fantastic result Jeff 👏👏👏

 

Your scratchbuilt marvel is better than any Fletcher kit I've seen in smaller scale 😎👍 also the suicide attack story reminds me of a book I once wrote...😉

 

Really well done mate,

Alan

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Just now, Alan P said:

the suicide attack story reminds me of a book I once wrote...😉

Gidday Alan, glad you like it. What was the book please? Regards, Jeff.

[Courageous]

Fantastic work Jeff. Nice to see a comparison between 1/600 & 1/700. With this done, you can now concentrate on 'Sheffield' in the GB.

 

Stuart

[ArnoldAmbrose]

1 minute ago, Courageous said:

With this done, you can now concentrate on 'Sheffield' in the GB.

Thanks Stuart, that's the plan. But not tonight, it's nearly 10.30 PM here. 🥱 Time for my beauty sleep (that doesn't seem to work). Regards, Jeff.

[Alan P]

11 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday Alan, glad you like it. What was the book please? Regards, Jeff.

Jonah by Carl Rackman

[beefy66]

Great job again Jeff what details you have managed to achieve with this build and the history lessons just get better and better BZ.  

 

Stay Safe

beefy

[robgizlu]

Can only agree with what the others have said - lovely representation and I really like the radar froom gauze!!

Rob

[Rich75]

Nice work Jeff, the amount of work gone into this is quite something, well done. Now you've shown us you can do aircraft too I'm thinking a carrier next? With the airwing ready to go of course! 

[Jagdtiger1]

Beautiful build Jeff, I didn't actually notice that unusual differentiation in the camouflage until just now, and it really does look good!

 

It has been a real pleasure to see all the effort you've put into scratch building not only the ship, but the aircraft which struck her too pay off with such a high quality finished model!

 

You've done yourself, and hopefully the memory of those who served and died aboard her, proud.

 

James.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

11 hours ago, robgizlu said:

I really like the radar froom gauze

       Gidday, I tried to use the same for the fire control radar mounted on the Mk37 director but couldn't manage it. Maybe next time.

 

9 hours ago, Rich75 said:

Now you've shown us you can do aircraft too I'm thinking a carrier next? With the airwing ready to go of course

       I want to do some carriers in the future, although it won't be the next project. That'll be HMS Sheffield. And the air wing is the reason I started experimenting making 1/600 planes in the first place. I've done four carrier planes now, the first being a Wildcat, then a Spitfire/Seafire and Corsair, and now the Oscar. A Zero would be very similar. I've also done a Grumman Tigercat and Mitsubishi Dinah but neither of those operated off carriers.

 

8 hours ago, Jagdtiger1 said:

the memory of those who served and died aboard her,

Of the crew, twenty-one were killed plus a further nine were missing. Thirty-six were wounded. Had a magazine blown up the toll could have been much higher. Three of the four attacking Japanese pilots were also killed. I don't know if the fourth made it back to base.

 

Again everyone, thank you for your interest in this, and your well-wishes. Much appreciated.       Regards, Jeff.

[JohnWS]

Great scratch building Jeff , & an awesome result.  

 

John

[Peter2]

Fine model. Here's another footnote to history: your model of the ship The Sullivans reminded me of why that ship was named so, after the five Sullivan brothers who were lost when the light cruiser USS Juneau they were serving on was sunk in 1942. 

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday @Peter2, yeah, losing one member of a family must be very heart-breaking, but to lose all five? I couldn't imagine what that must be like to the parents. And as a further footnote, the Sullivan brothers were mentioned in the movie 'Saving Private Ryan'  -  "  .   .   .  we split them up after the Sullivan brothers  .   .   .  " 

 

Again, thanks for your feedback and interest. Regards, Jeff.

[Bandsaw Steve]

Hi Jeff,

 

Don’t forget WASMEx is on weekend after next. I want to see this one there! 👍

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Steve aka @Bandsaw Steve, that's the plan. The date's etched into my calendar. I fear it could be the last? Regards, Jeff.

[Bandsaw Steve]

2 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday Steve aka @Bandsaw Steve, that's the plan. The date's etched into my calendar. I fear it could be the last? Regards, Jeff.

Yes. I’m afraid that is a distinct possibility. As it stands there are not enough of us on the committee. A sort of ‘WASMEx lite’ might eventuate, or maybe fold and close. ☹️

[S-boat 55]

Apologies Jeff, I'm just catching up on the rfu thread. I think this is quite the achievement, the contrast between 600th and 700th scale is notable, somehow less and also more than I'd of thought, 

 

Scratch building to this extent I think is very impressive, thanks for sharing the process and outcome

 

Sam

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Sam aka @S-boat 55, thanks for that. I've got a couple more in mind, some small, others a bit larger. I want to work up in size to see if this method works with larger hulls. One I'm considering soon is the German light cruiser Karlsruhe but so as not to ignore the stash I'll try to alternate between scratched ships and kits.

       One ship I'd REALLY like to do is the large cruiser USS Alaska. It's probably a few builds/years down the track at present, and I think would be my magnum opus if I ever manage her.

Again, thanks for your interest. Regards, Jeff.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday All, here's a bit of shameless self promotion. (Yeah, I know the saying - "Pride comes before a Fall"). 😁
       This weekend just gone was our annual model show, WASMEx. I submitted six model ships, two of them in the scratch built section. In that section my USS Mullany came second and the Flower class corvette came third. And just to bring me back down to earth, there were only three entries in the section so I guess I got last and second last. 😁

 

The winner was @Clogged's beautiful model of the "1800 Le Rochefort Port Yacht", which appears here in the Maritime RFI section. His first place for the model was very well deserved, I'm glad he submitted it. 👍

       Regards, Jeff.

[Alan P]

Unlucky to pull that particular competitor, but you still got the gongs 😎

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday @Alan P, actually I talked him into entering it. And I'm glad I did, it was worth it just to see the model first hand, in the flesh so-to-speak. She looked every bit as good as the photos.

Regards, Jeff.

[bissyboat]

All medals are great testament to your accomplishments Jeff. Be tall, loud and proud. Well done! ⚓🙌

[JohnWS]

Congratulations Jeff!  Well deserved. 

 

John

[Bandsaw Steve]

Yes - well deserved. As you know I saw these models first hand this weekend and can tell everyone here that they are even more impressive ‘in the flesh’ than in these photos. What the photos do not convey is just how small these models are and how very tiny the pin-point detailing is. 
 

Brilliant work!