History
USS Caravan was launched 27 October 1942 by Willamette Iron
and Steel Corp., Portland, Oreg., and commissioned 21 January 1944.
The minesweeper operated in the Pacific on patrol and convoy escort.
16 August 1945 she was decommissioned and transferred to the Soviet
Union under lend-lease. She remained in the Russian Navy and was scrapped
in 1956.
Specifications: displacement 900 tons full load, length 56,3 m, beam 10,1 m, speed 15 knots, crew 104, armament 1x 7,6 cm bow gun, 4x 4 cm Bofors (2x2), 6x 2 cm Oerlikon, depth charges.
Model The Models are free downloads (pdf) available from Digital Navy on their website. The fit of the models is very good, and they were great fun to build.
I called the diorama "Pacific Rendezvous". I do not know if such a scene really happened there during WWII, perhaps the historians will prove me wrong. Nevertheless it looks good!
The crew-figures are Preiser z-gauge railway personnel painted with Revell colors. The canopy of the floatplane was partially cut away and a pilot's seat installed.
The life rafts are from a German e-boat kit. Unfortunately they are not included in the Digital-Navy kit, although they were a prominent feature of the Admirable-class minesweepers. The minesweeping gear was made of toothpicks.
Railings and ladders are fly-screen stiffened with paint.
The plywood-base of the model was painted black and covered with metallic-blue corrugated cardboard.
| Models |
USS Caravan (AM 157), Admirable-Class
Minesweeper and Subchaser Kingfisher Floatplane |
| Kit |
Digital Navy (free download) |
| Designer |
Roman Detyna |
| Availability |
http://www.digitalnavy.com/ |
| Scale |
1:250 |
| Difficulty |
medium (9 parts/cm length) |
| Number of Parts |
ca. 200
(ship), 20 (plane) |
| Instructions |
diagrams, some parts not mentioned |
| Diagrams |
good and clear |
| Fit |
very good |
| Coloring and Artwork |
very good |
| Printing |
no problems |
| Resources |
http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/mine/am157.htm
http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/02157.htm http://members.aol.com/turkit/page14.html http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/aircraft/WWII/kingfish/kingfsh_info/king_info.htm |
| Comments and Questions |
horst.muerell@gmx.de
|
