The Yankee Modelworks kit of the USS Sampson is depicted in this mid-war configuration . USS Sampson was one of the few front-line USN Warships to carry the unusual Measure 16 scheme. The ship is painted White 5-U with Thayer Blue 5-B on the vertical surfaces and Deck Blue 20-B Horizontal surfaces.

The kit has a two-piece resin hull, resin, white metal, and photo-etch details. A detailed instruction set and decals are included with the kit.
For advanced modelers only!

History:

The Somers (DD-381) class was the second group of destroyer leaders built by the U.S. Navy during the 1930s and followed the general characteristics of the preceding Porter (DD-356) class, which was ordered in 1933. These new destroyers were subject to the terms of the 1930 London Naval Arms Limitation Treaty, which regulated ship size. It limited destroyers to 1,500 tons, introduced the category of destroyer leader at 1,850 tons, and set the maximum caliber of the guns for both types at 5.1 inches. In most respects, the 1,850-ton Porters were enlarged versions of the 1,560-ton Farragut class. The additional weight and length of the leaders allowed a better arrangement of the machinery, an increase in the main battery, and limited protection in some areas of the hull and superstructure.

By early 1942, a number of improvements in the armament of the Somers class were necessary. The limited elevation of their 5-inch single purpose main battery and the inadequate performance of their obsolete 1.1-inch and .50 caliber antiaircraft machine guns rendered all of the destroyer leaders defenseless against modem enemy aircraft. To correct this deficiency, the leaders needed to be fully rebuilt, converting their 5-inch battery to dual-purpose weapons and updating their antiaircraft battery with 40-mm and 20- mm guns. Because they couldn't be spared until some of the new destroyers began reaching the fleet, only modest alterations were made until 1944. These consisted primarily of replacing the No. 3, 5-inch gun mount with a quadruple 40-mm gun mount, removing the center torpedo tube mount, and adding six 20-mm gun mounts around the bridge, stack, and superstructure level aft.