This is the latest In Action
ship publication by Squadron/Signal, and provides an excellent overview of an important
escort class. Destroyer escorts not only helped win the Battle of the Atlantic, but
did yeoman work both in the Pacific and postwar. Originally conceived as a mass
produced solution to the pressing need for Trans-Atlantic convoy escorts, these
capable ships quickly became a Jack-of-all-trades. The US Navy used them
extensively in all WW2 theatres, and post-war they formed the nucleus of many
developing country navies.
The book covers all war-built destroyer escort variants. These consisted of the
Evarts, Buckley, Cannon, Edsall, Rudderow, and John C. Butler classes. All are
represented with clear photos, plan and profile drawings, and short descriptions of each
class's development history and distinguishing features . There are excellent
isometric drawings of the equipment, fittings, and weapons used on these ships.
This is a worthwhile feature of all of the Squadron warship publications and will
assist the scratchbuilder greatly. There are six color drawing of different ships in
the center section, including a US Coast Guard ship and an APD in the colorful Ms. 31/20L
scheme.
There is an additional section devoted to the APD (Destroyer
Transport) conversions, and it includes an isometric drawing showing the differences
between the Buckley/Rudderow DE and the APD. The book's final section covers the DER
conversions for the "wet" Distant Early Warning line of the 1950's, and includes
comparison drawings and photos.
This is an excellent book for the modeler. It contains information sufficient to
build any of the destroyer escort variants. There is plenty of information on each
DE class, including an excellent selection of drawings and photos, color paint
scheme drawings, conversion data, and all for a mere $6.95. I highly recommended
this book for both the enthusiast, modeler and anyone who just plain likes ships.
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