Milford chronicle., 1943-11-19
DE @REYNOLDS" BUILT IN %
DAYS AT BETHLEHEM YARD

A new worlds record in ship
construction was achieved Novem-
ber 3 by the Bethlehem-H bingham
shipyard when it delivered the
1,3O0-ton destrOyer-escOrt "Rey-
nolds" within 25 days of the time
the keel was laid.
The ship, which will carry COM
plement of 1856 officers and men
and cost approximately $3,500,00O,
was delivered to the United States
Navy, which in turn will place it
in the service of the British Royal
Navy for anti-U-boat and convoy
duty in the Atlantic.
This record surpasses by more
than 20 days the mark set by Beth
| lehem in the first world war when
it delivered the destroyer REID"
to the American Navy As days after
the laying of the keel new record
up to that time.
The first group of the Reynolds"
type of ship built for this war by
the Bethlehem-Hing yard re-
quired 302 days to complete. The
next group in her class required
2O6 days. The yard is busy con-
structing additional destroyer-es-
corts which will join the "Reyn-
olds" in the British Navy.
The Reynolds" will be turned
over to Admiral H. T. Smith. Su-
pervisor of Shipbuilding. U.S.N.,
Quincy, Mass. by General Manager
w. H. Collins of the Bethlehem
bingham yard.
Admiral Smith will then deliver
the vessel to the British command
ing officer and she will immediate
ly become formally designated H.
NJ. S. Reynolds"
The Reynolds like her sister
ships, is built for speed and quick
handling fire power. She has three
revolving cannon. a 40-mm. Bofors
gun. each barrel capable of 12O
rounds of 2-pound projectiles per
minute. effective at $500 yards
against air or surface targets.
1t also possesses numerous 20
nm. OerlikOn machine guns with
potential fire-power of nearly 400
shells a minute. A potent feature
of her armament are various IL
guns for throwing down 3OO-pound
"ash Gags.
The Reynolds" type of destroy
er-escort is 30S feet long and Sc
feet in ybreadth and is known in
Naval circles as the Terrier of the
Sea" Her superstructure has been
described as a "crOss between an
overgrown submarine coming tow
er and a gigantic tank turret.
The wheel-house. bridge and
chartlounge are completely encased
in protective steel armOr. The two
stepped-down gun platforms just
forward are among the features I
which contribute 10 an altogether
modern appearance.
Aft of the bridge are the short
mast and the squat stack. tianked
and followed by odd-shaped bulges.
platforms and crannies which pro-
vide additional gun-mounts.
The vessel has been described by ,
Naval men as being something be-
tween a corvette and a destroyer in .
sic and Naval men pridefully de-
clare that she can outrun the .
fastest corvette or submarine.
The design of the destroyer-es-
cOrt was conceived three years ago .
by Admiral f. L. Cochrane. Chief /
of the Bureau of Ships. Washing
ton. ID. c. He created it after max
ing "A four-months study in England
of all angles of the Atlantic convoy
problem. He concluded that a lar
ger. faster and more heavily arm
ed ship than the corvette was
needed successfully to combat the
growing U-boat menace along the
AnglO-American convoy lanes. Navy
ship designers and engineers then
laid the plans for the construction
of the destroyer-escOrt.
1t includes the last word in ma
rine innovations for both warfare
and navigatiOn-and it has been
one of the important contributing
factors in the successful Allied war
against the NaZi undersea craft.
When the Navy first assigned the
of escort -destroyers to
the bingham yard. its
planned that it would re-
quire four months to build. from
keel-laying to launching.
The bingham yard
quickly put into operation the lat
est assembly line methods for
quantity production. and progress
ively Whitfield the construction time
down. as pointed out above, until
his new world record was achiev-
I'd.