An exhibition standard scale model of the Behham class destroyer U.S.S. Wilson, pennant No. 408

JOHN HAYNES (BRITISH, 20TH CENTURY)

細節

An exhibition standard scale model of the Behham class destroyer U.S.S. Wilson, pennant No. 408
John Haynes (British, 20th century)
modeled in 1/8 in. to 1 ft. scale, the hull built up and detailed with hull plating, the bottom painted a rust brown, a black waterline and grey topsides. The decks of the model are painted a blue-grey and fitted with numerous details including: anchor, anchor windlass, chocks and bollards, deck railings, four 5"/38 caliber guns, port holes, life rafts, bridge with radar mount, search lights, main mast with flag halyards and antennae, boats on davits, funnel, ventilators, air intakes, cat walks, two 40mm twin anti-aircraft mounts, two 21" quadruple torpedo tubes, range finders, depth charge launchers and stern racks, propeller guards, propellers and rudder. Displayed in glass case with brass trim on a black base with veneer inlay and an engraved brass name plaque.
18¼ x 50 in. (46.4 x 127 cm.) cased

拍品專文

The U.S.S. Wilson was the final BENHAM class destroyer constructed on the West Coast. She was commissioned July 5, 1939 and following commissioning, she entered service with the Pacific battle force and was immediately immersed in Fleet Problem XXI. Early in 1941 the U.S. Wilson was stationed at Pearl Harbor but by the summer of that year reinforcements were needed on the East Coast. DD-408 remained in her role as a convoy escort during the first months of the war, frequently traveling as far afield as Iceland. Then, as part of Task Force 18, she sailed to the Pacific, and into combat around Guadalcanal. In the early morning of August 9, U.S.S. Wilson was screening the cruiser force in the sound north of Guadalcanal when she spotted star shells off the port quarter, enemy vessels were in the anchorage. During the engagement off Savo Island, four heavy cruisers were sunk and another was heavily damaged. U.S.S. Wilson entered the sound later in the day looking for survivors. She located U.S.S. ASTORIA and flames swept through the cruiser as U.S.S. Wilson approached and retrieved more than two hundred officers and men. After hours of effort, the cruiser yielded to her extensive damage and sank. The U.S.S. Wilson experienced her first kamikaze attacks off the Philippines when she was assigned to convoy a mixed force of transports, landing craft, and torpedo boats. The ships suffered from six separate attacks over a two-day period. During the Okinawa campaign the U.S.S Wilson as she entered the anchorage near Karama Retto with a convoy, two attackers dove in at the destroyer. One was shot down but the other, heavily damaged, cartwheeled over the two after 5-inch guns and exploded in the sea. A bomb lodged itself in the destroyer's after bunking space. Fortunately, only the booster of the bomb exploded and within hours the U.S.S. WILSON was back in action. By the end of the war the U.S.S. Wilson was back at convoy duty, and then after the war she was directed to prepare for service as a target in atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. Like her sisters, she survived, only to be so radioactive that she was unusable. She was scuttled off Kwajalein on March 8, 1948. The U.S.S. WILSON earned eleven battle stars for her service during World War II.