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Description: The Andromeda was an Italian escort destroyer, originally made for the US Navy. In 1943, the US Navy commissioned the USS Cannon, a new support ship designed to perform both anti-submarine and escort roles. After the first unit, a total of 116 units were ordered, but later 44 of them were cancelled, probably because the need for ships of a class like this one was not so important. Like the Fletcher, Gearing, and others classes, a lot of cannon-class warships were exported and donated to various navies, like the one donated to the Italian Navy in 1951, the USS Wesson. It entered in service on 11 October 1943 and was shortly deployed on the Pacific front, where it was hit by a Kamikaze suicide aircraft in 1944. Many members of the crew lost their lives in the attack, but ultimately the ship didn’t suffer enormous damages and managed to get back to San Francisco for repairs. At the end of the conflict, it was awarded with a total of 7 battle starts, and in 1946 it was put in reserve. In 1951, like a good number of other ships, it was donated to the Italian navy, and it received the name of Andromeda (F592). In the Italian navy, the ship didn’t receive any modification and remained the same as before. It’s armaments were quite powerful for a ship of its size, featuring a 3x 76 mm main gun, 6x 40 mm bofors, and 18x 20 mm oerlikon cannons. It was also fitted with a various array of anty submarine weapons, featuring Hedgehog anty submarine mortars and more than 10 additional depth charge launchers. In Italian service, they were initially classified as escorts; in 1957, they were reclassified as frigates, and in 1962, as corvettes. In 1972, after a total of 27 years of service between two Navies, the Aldebaran class was phased out and scrapped.
Specifications
Riepilogo
Sources
Riepilogo
USS Wesson - Wikipedia
Cannon-class destroyer escort - Wikipedia
ANDROMEDA (3)
Navi e Armatori - Approdi di Passione
Navi e Armatori - Approdi di Passione
Navi e Armatori - Approdi di Passione
0378 – A.S. ALDEBARAN l.f.t. 93,26 m 1:96 | Associazione Navimodellisti Bolognesi
Andromeda F 592 Aldebaran Cannon class frigate ex USS Wesson Italian Navy
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