Finally getting around to these after a while...
This is SIMS (DD-409), the class leader, as lost in May of 1942, with Measure 12 (modified) camouflage. The camouflage is unfortunately a "best guess" in some places as there are no full side views of the ship in this scheme before it was lost after Coral Sea.
SIMS shows the austere early wartime alterations of the class, with only two 20mm Oerlikons on its aft deckhouse. The ship retains the small after conning station atop the smaller structure on the aft deckhouse, which was removed from every ship of the class after Midway. The characteristic catwalks spanning the space between the amidships deckhouses and forward past the funnel trunking were not added to SIMS before the ship was sunk. Otherwise, she is equipped quite similarly to her sisters of the same timeframe.
SIMS was lost on 7 May 1942 while escorting the oiler NEOSHO after the Battle of the Coral Sea.
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This is MUSTIN (DD-413) in June of 1942 at Pearl Harbor. She is camouflaged in the usual Measure 12 (modified) for this period, though this application of the scheme seems non-standard, with Navy Blue (5-N) overall and vertical splotches of Ocean Gray (5-O) on both the hull and superstructure. Haze Grey (5-H) has been applied to the Mark 37 director and its foundation, as well as the mast above the top of the pilot house.
MUSTIN shows the effects of the early wartime alterations for this class, with two 20mm Oerlikons on the aft deckhouse and eight torpedo tubes in two quadruple mounts. MUSTIN's sisters would receive different variations of this refit, and as usual there was no "standard" configuration until much later in the war. An austere electronics fit consists of the SC air search radar on the mainmast, with a TBS tactical radio antenna below it, and a Mark 4 "FD" radar on the Mark 37 director. These units would receive the standard DD electronics fit as refits allowed.
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This is HUGHES (DD-410) in August of 1942, after a refit period at Mare Island. The ship is camouflaged in Measure 12 (modified), like all her sisters of this time.
HUGHES shows the standard "post-Midway" configuration for the class, with a battery of four 20mm Oerlikons on the aft deckhouse. The small battle gaff aft also functioned as an antenna trunk, feeding the wire antenna strung to the funnel forward.
HUGHES served in the Pacific throughout the war, before being used as a target during the CROSSROADS nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. The hulk was sunk off Kwajalein in 1948.
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This is HAMMANN (DD-412) in January of 1942, during a refit period at Charleston Navy Yard. She is camouflaged in the usual Measure 12 (modified) of this timeframe for the SIMS class.
HAMMANN shows yet another variation of the aft deckhouse arrangement, which was different for nearly every unit of the class up until the addition of 40mm Bofors somewhat standardized the configuration. Two 20mm Oerlikons flank the after conning station and 36" searchlight on its elevated platform, with the combination antenna trunk and battle gaff immediately behind. Otherwise the ship is nearly identical to her sisters.
HAMMANN would be sunk by a torpedo fired by the Japanese submarine I-168 while assisting the salvage efforts aboard the carrier YORKTOWN (CV-5) after the Battle of Midway. 80 men were killed in action.
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This is WALKE (DD-416) in August of 1942, with the usual Measure 12 (modified) camouflage scheme seen on this class. WALKE's funnel base was shaped differently, with straight knuckles instead of the usual rounded type seen on other units.
WALKE was sunk by Japanese gunfire and torpedo hits during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, with 76 men killed in action.
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This is ROE (DD-418) in April of 1943 while underway in the Atlantic. She is camouflaged in Measure 22, with the Navy Blue following the line of sheer forward. Measure 22 technically specified a horizontally straight line, but some of the pre-war destroyers were painted this way instead.
ROE shows alterations common for the units that survived the battles of 1942. Two twin 40mm Bofors have been placed atop the aft deckhouse, with Mark 51 directors in tubs next to them. A platform atop the same deckhouse supports the 36" searchlight and a 20mm Oerlikon, and a tub has been placed ahead of the bridge for a fourth 20mm gun. An SG surface search radar sits on the mast, immediately under the SC air search set.
ROE served in the Atlantic, escorting convoys to Europe and covering the Operation TORCH landings in North Africa. The ship was transferred to the Pacific in 1944, where she provided fire support for troops ashore on New Guinea. ROE survived the war to be sold for scrap in 1947.
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All SIMS class destroyer drawings available here: http://shipbucket.com/drawings/search?c ... =&drawing=
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Imgur album of high-res photos of the SIMS class I've assembled
