GHQ Models Forums

I've been thinking again about what ships I would like to see GHQ produce in the coming years and it led me back to the old V&W classes of destroyers. So in an effort to be more precise about what I'm asking for I thought I would a n a l yze the classes and break them down according to how many and of what sub-types there actually were. So here it is based on the info I have available to me(right or wrong):

These ships are actually the following classes and sub-classes all lumped together:
V Class (23 ordered and built)
V Class - Flotilla Leaders (5 ordered and built)
V Class - Thornycroft Specials (2 ordered and built)
W Class (21 ordered but only 19 built)
W Class - Thornycroft Specials (2 ordered and built)
W Class - Modified - Admiralty order #1 (14 ordered but only 7 built)
W Class - Modified - Admiralty order #2 (37 ordered but only 6 built)
W Class - Modified - Thornycroft Specials (2 ordered and built)

In total, there were 106 ordered but only 66 were actually completed. Of the 66 that were completed, four were transferred to Australia in 1933 and all of those were lost during or after WWII without major modification work being done to them. Of the 62 in the RN, 17 were lost during or after WWII and of those 11 had no major modifcation work done to them.

Now, as for which types GHQ would need to build, there seem to be four major types that would satisfy both WWI and WWII. They are standard (pretty much as built and could be included in the WWI catalogue), AA Escort, Long Range Escort, and Short Range Escort. Even though the ships are broken down into 8 sub-classes, there seems to be very little difference between them with the exception being the five flotilla leaders that were 88 tons heavier than the standard V and then the modified W's that were 225 tons heavier than the standard W. Despite this, all were 312 feet long and beam was of two different widths that at this scale would wash out.

Armament:
The V and W classes all had 4 x 4" guns. The modified W's had 4 x 4.7" guns. Secondary guns were either twin 40mm AA or a single 3" AA gun, and this varied within sub-types. Torpedo tube armament was two twin 21" mounts for all of the V's and two triple 21" mounts for all the W's. It's very interesting that the flotilla leaders didn't carry any extra armament over the standard types and the modifed W's were heavier and better armed.

Modifications:
Beginning in 1938 the RN started refitting these ships for specialized roles. This continued all the way into 1944 as follows:
AA Escort - 15
LR Escort - 21
SR Escort - 10
Standard - 20 (only slight modifications from original)

AA Escort Configuration:
No modified W's were converted, and all were re-equipped with two twin 4" QF Mk XVI guns, 4 x 20mm AA, no torpedo tubes, and 30-45 DC's. All completed by 1941.

LR Escort Configuration:
This is the largest group and included six out of the seven modified W's of Admiralty order #1 and none from order #2. Their original main armament was halved and all torpedo tubes removed and given 5 x 20mm AA, hedgehog launchers and 110 to 140 DC's. Speed was reduced from 34 knots to 25-26 knots and fuel increased from 367 tons to 445 tons. Main differences here are between the six modified W's with their two 4.7" guns and the the rest with their two 4" guns. These conversions started in 1941 and were completed by 1944.

SR Escort Configuration:
Don't know when these conversions took place, but seven out of the ten were modified W's, so main armament was 2 or 3 of the original 4.7" guns (five had two, and two had three mounts). Of the others two had 2 x 4" guns and one had three 4" guns. Six of them had two 40mm AA guns, 2 x 6pdr and 3 x 2pdr AA guns and 20 DC's - this was the anti-E-Boat config. Three units had 1 x 12pdr HA AA gun in place of the 6 and 2 pdr guns, plus 4 x 20mm AA guns and 98 DC's.

Standard:
Most of the units that were not converted had already been lost, so perhaps the intent was to convert all of these ships to one of the three types above, I don't know. Of the 20, nine were lost or sold before WWII, four others were transferred to Australia, the remaining seven were lost during WWII. That does not mean that these ships did not receive any modifications, just that it was not part of a grandiose scheme to convert the ship to any specialty.

So it seams that for each of the four configurations listed below, one could have the V/W class type and the modified W class type for a total of eight sub-types. I myself would be more than happy just to see the following:

Great War kit with:
2 x V/W class DD's
1 x mod W class DD

WWII kit with:
1 x AA Escort (V/W class)
1 x LR Escort (V/W class)
1 x SR Escort (mod W class)

These would be a great addition to both WWI and WWII. Let me know what you think.

Chris

Chris:

At 1;2400 scale, would the difference between 4" guns and 4.7" guns be noticable? If not, could the no. of variants be cut?

Mikee

Mikee,

Good question, I tried to find the answer but I can't find good pictures of the two guns to compare them.

Chris

I have looked at both line drawings and photographs. I am confident that in 1/2400 scale, the differences between the 4-inch and 4.7-inch gun mountings would not be noticable.

One thing that should be noted is that the gun shields in both cases ended well above the deck, leaving the lower extremities of the gun crew exposed. In the combats in which these ships participated, many of the casualties were gun crew wounded in the leg or groin by shrapnel. The 4.7-inch mounts used in the post-war British destroyers had gun shields that extended almost to the deck, protecting the entire body.

(I am also adding votes to the Consolidated Micronaut Wish List. I know this is repeating, but having lived near Chicago I became accustomed to the philosophy of "Vote early and vote often.")

Don S.

In honor of GHQ announcing the production of the V and W class destroyers, I thought I'd bump this one to the top for some reference.

Chris

Now, the big question yet to be resolved is "What version(s)?"
Since the newly-announced package is in the WWII range, I would hope that there will be one each of the WAIR, short-range escort, and long-range escort. Then, later, a Great War package of three of the unmodified version.
We will just have to wait and see.
Don S.