Another tell is the replacement of single main mast with a tripod mast to provide stable platform for electronics.
Bill
Hi Pawel!
What’s funny about what you just said.The U.S.S.Brinkley Bass, U.S.S. Ozbourn and another were FRAMMED in Bremerton Wa. Sent to San Diego for Lamps helos. Ya know it’s funny there NEVER any ready to come aboard so-Wasted trip. A Lamps helo never rested it’s Gear on either ships Helo Deck!
The Hangar did become a great place for "Ship’s Movies and storage of goodies coming home from many foreign Ports. You know we actually go five Honda cars and sixteen Motorcycles(Honda of course) and stereos etc. in there.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Fletcher in the flesh. There was a USS Morrison DD-560.
Ok, now for a trivia question: how many Fletchers were at the Battle of the Coral Sea (at a minimum)?
Bill
Best one to visit–at least for my 2¢–is USS Kidd, in Red Stick. She’s in 1945 anti-kamikaze fit, with a pole mast, five turrets, and Meas 22 paint scheme.
Cassin Young is a free tour (it sits opposite of Constitution in Boston harbor), but you only get to see the main deck. She’s interesting for being one of the very few “reactivated” Fletchers retaining all five turrets. She was given a tripod mast, but retained “bedspring” air search radar.
The Sullivans in Albany, NY is an interesting trip, if a bit overshadwed by having Little Rock alongside (only preserved Light Cruiser, anywhere). She’s generally in her late 60s, four-turret fit. Her 3"/50 Mk 33s may be in better shape than the four on Little Rock. Maybe.
Your Mileagae May Vary
Agree about the Kidd. Great tour. Stopped in one trip back from Nawalins. Plan for the trip, she’s going into drydock sometime in the future. Getting her loose of the bollards which hold her in place will be an interesting evolution.
Especially given the unique way she’s on display.
She’s on blocks alongside the Mississippi River. As the river ebbs through the summer and into winter, she goes “dry.” Come the Spring flows of the river, she goes “wet.”
It’s my understanding they allowed for floods along the river in the mooring/mounting.
So, the tricky part abotu getting her to a dry dock would be in having to wait for full river flow, to float her off her keel blocks. Yet not have this being under unpredictable water conditions. I imagine they’d want for more than one River Pilot for the tugs. But, it would only be a short tow down to the yards on NOLA.
Thanks for the info. I do get down there now and then. Great WW2 Museum.
Answer: At least one Fletcher at the Battle of the Coral Sea. Frank Jack Fletcher, Commander of TF17.
Bill
Not a problem–it’s what on-line fora are for, after all.
Spring is my favorite time for Red Stick, especially in under-insulated metal ships 
My other springtime go-to is the Museum of the Pacific War over in Fredricksburg, TX, Nimitz’s birthplace. Fredricksburg is in the Hill Country, and the 3000 or so foot altitude does help moderate temperatures.
Oho!
Ya gotta catch the Pacific War museum.They have on display one of the last two Higgins boats that ever served in that theater.
The Kidd was floated out of the cradles yesterday and is enroute down-river to a shipyard in Houma, LA for a maintenance period.
If they need spring high-water to get off and back onto the cradles, don’t look at a museum tour for a while (the Mississippi has been beset by low summer flows).
I want to remember that they were expecting 6-8 months’ of yard tiime.
Your point does make me wonder if they can use camels to hoist her back up. There’s not a lot of bank-side room for that sort of thing.
A bit of a “season” of maintenance, what with New Jersey, The Sullivans, and now, Kidd, all getting either yard or maintenance time right now.
Has this model been released yet?
On one of the webcasts they talked of needing the spring high water to get off and on the cradles. This year they were worried because the water was low. Mississippi River water levels were historically low. if they didn’t start work this year they stood to loose state money. They monitored the weather and saw a flooding event in western Pennsylvania. They monitored the flood down the Ohio R and needed to go now. They had a 48 hour window.
As it was they removed the 1951 rudder extension (6 to 10 feet? ) and were talking about removing the sonar dome to make the available clearance
They plan on being out at least until next springs high water. They will likely move to a convenient dock near Baton Rouge to be ready to strike when high water is available
Hi:
Yeah! Her moorings are unique to say the least. But given the situation it just proves a point. Nature is not static and is changing constantly. Most thought that the flow would be coming with regularity. But, What about Flood Controls upstream,? Plus a hotter than usual year.
Not yet. I’ve heard the Fletcher first this summer followed by The Sullivans and lastly the Pringle. I have a Sullivans pre-ordered through Squadron
Oh boy I’ve tried for over a day to open this site despite constant 504s.I am really looking forward to visiting the park in Buffalo. I’ll be there the last week in June, and the ship will be closed for repairs starting July 1st.
Bill
i did get out to Buffalo last week and visited the USS The Sullivans on Wednesday.
It’s a nice tour, only disappointed was that I couldn’t go below.
I skipped the Little Rock as the boarding ladder was at a 45 degree angle and matbe 15 feet tall. Right now my knee isnt up to it.
Bill
Well!
Be glad you even got a topside tour. It seems that a lot of these museums forget that the hull, you know that shaped area that is the last bastion between dry and wet, and nature has a way with them.It’s called rust and corrosion. I had commented about the old Cutter I converted to a liveaboard. Well ,that’s why the C.G. put her in the yard. The bottom was getting a wee bit thin in spots. They fixed those, surveyed one more time and said fresh water for her. Can’t use her anymore-Bye!
Thanks Cap for this post I had no knowledge of the Little Rock until I read it and shes only a few Hrs drive for me. Expect some pictures in the future!
Edit: Dang - USS Little Rock is in Buffalo NY not Albany - that’s too far for a day trip.
Hey TB - when you mentioned only a few Higgins boats left, did that include this one?
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/world-war-ii-higgins-ghost-boat