USS Cape (MSI-2) by Dr PR - 1:48 - Inshore Minesweeper

[Javelin]

That is looking marvellous Phil. Very realistic in any case. 

 

Were there really ropes wound around those rings on 4 places? Just wondering since I'm from the reflective SOLAS tape era and don't know about Navy habits on this... 

[Dr PR]

Roel,

 

I don't know if any Navy manuals said to wrap ropes like shown here, but we had it on both the Cape and Oklahoma City. I suspect it was a bosun's thing - they killed time by applying small stuff around life rails, stanchions, ladder rails and just about everything else that didn't move. Fancy knots, braiding and such were normal. 

 

For example, here sailors are removing horizontal threads from a sheet of canvas. The vertical threads will be bunched together and braided to make "McNamara's Lace." It was a decoration that was hung around the quarter deck in port and on other things to make them look fancy.

 

The braiding around hand rails and stanchions actually served a purpose. It made it easier to grip, especially if things were wet.

Edited Wednesday at 07:34 PM by Dr PR

[Dr PR]

Roel,

 

Your question made me do a double check on the life rings, and that brought a surprise!

 

As you can see in this photo life rings were sometimes made up as I have modeled them. But if you look closely you will see this ring is labeled "USS COVE MSI ONE." This was the Cape's sister ship (possibly the actual smallest ship in the Navy).

 

I have been using photos of both ships for determining how to build the Cape model. And I remember that I found the life rings were made up this way on the USS Oklahoma City CLG-5 when I made the CAD model of that ship.

 

However, when I looked at the photo in post #420 above I realized that the life rings on the Cape were painted differently. The turns around the life ring were painted orange!

 

 

 

I'll have to correct that! Although the Cove and Cape were very much alike, there were many small differences like this between the two. This was especially true in the way the crews painted the details like this. But there were also some structural differences, such as the Cove having 12 inch (305 mm) searchlights on the O1 level open bridge and the Cape having them above on the O2 level. The ladder on the port side of the O1 superstructure was a bit farther aft on the Cape. And the O2 level life rails and lines were a bit different.

 

Thanks for keeping me on track!

 

And I hope everyone had a happy day. It was Thanksgiving in the US and I am stuffed more than the turkey!

Edited Friday at 06:40 AM by Dr PR