Looking for plans for a US Navy ship

[Dan Bowkley]

Greetings all,

Many moons ago I was stationed aboard USS Taylor, FFG-50. Quite a lovely little ship. After I got out I decided I'd love to have a model of her to keep around...but nobody makes one. And I'll be buggered if I can find plans to scratchbuild anything either.

So, would anyone have any idea how to get ahold of a basic set of plans (scantlings, deck layout, a basic 3-view; nothing internal needed really) so I might build myself my model?

Thanks a million!
Dan Bowkley
dibowkley@hotmail.com

[CDBarry]

Contact your Congressman - they will forward the request to the appropriate Navy activity promptly. I am sorry that I don't know the best Navy contact - there may be an "Office of the Navy Historian", but I don't know for sure, so your Congressman is a sure avenue. This type of request is routine and will generally be fulfilled quickly. Ask specifically for a "model builder's drawing set".

The FFGs were made at Bath Iron (Maine) and Ingalls (MS), (I don't know which ones were at each) so you could also try either of those yards, or Senator Snowe or Senator Lott's office. The Senator's office or the yard may know of a commercial model builder that sells a model.

[dvgale]

For 17 years I worked with the company that did the detail design and functioned as contract design agent for the FFG7 Class, so I “cut my teeth” as a naval architect on this ship. Over the years I developed numerous compartment arrangements, drawings, weight, stability, trim and longitudinal strength calculations. I rewrote the Stability and Trim section of the ship’s Damage Control Book back in the 1980s and prepared a computer program to automate the process for the Class. (At one time I actually began having dreams about the fuel and ballast sequence calculations – it was that bad! ) We also worked on plans, equipment upgrades and documents for variants for other countries’ navies, including Australia, Taiwan, and Spain.

Try contacting Gibbs & Cox, Inc. in New York or Washington, D.C. Their Web site is www.gibbscox.com. They may have some releasable drawings or other material that you could use - and I suspect they'd be pleased to know of your enthusiasm for her.

I’d be interested in knowing how you make out, either by post or E-mail.

Don Gale
South Salem, NY