The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1943-11-18
DE "ReynoIds" Completed In Is Days
BY The Bethlehem Hingmon Yord

~ iltW WI III lttoiA Ill olilp
construction was achieved Novem-
Der 3 by the Bethlehem-H ingman
shipyard when it delivered the l.
300-ton destroyer escort Reynolds"
within Is days of the time the keel
was laid.
The ship, which will carry a COM
plement of 1876 officers and men and
cost approximately S3,500000, was
delivered to the United States Navy,
which in turn will place it.lin 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 45l2 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-Hingman yard re-
quired 302 days to complete. The
next group in her class required
206 days. The yard is busy con-
structing additional destroyer-es-
corts which will join the Reynolds
in the British Navy.
The Reynolds" will. be turned
over to Admiral H. T. Smith, SUI
pervisor of Shipbuilding, U. S. N.
Quincy, Mass, by General Man
ager w. H. Collins of the Bethle-
-Hingman yard
Admiral Smith will then deliver
the vessel to the British command
ing officer and she will immedi-
ately become formally designated
II. M. S Reynolds
The Reynolds" like her sister
ships, is built for speed and quick
handling fire power She has three
revolving cannon, 40-mm. b.
fors gun, each barrel capable of 100
rounds. of 2-pound projectiles per
minute, effective at $500 yards
againch air or surface targets.
1t also possesses numerous 20
MN. Oerlikon machine guns with.
a potential fire-poWer of nearly 400
shells minute. A potent feature
of her armament are various X
guns for throwing down 300-pound
ash cans
The Reynolds type of destroyer
escort is 308 feet long and 36 feet
in breadth and is known in Naval
circles as the Terrier of the Sea-
Her superstructure has been de-
scribed as cross between an over
grown submarine coming tower
and gigantic tank turret.
The Wheel-house, bridge and
charthouse are completely encased
in protective steel armor The two
stepped-doWn gun platforms just
forward are among the features
which contribute to an altogether
modern appearance.
Aft of the bridge are the short
mast and the squat stack, thanked
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 size and Naval men pridefully de-
clare that she can outrun the fast
est corvette or submarine.
The design of the destroyer-es-
cort was conceived three years ago
by Admiral E. L. Cochrane, Chief
of the Bureau Of Ships, Washing
ton, D. c. He created it after max
ing a four-months study in England
of all angles Of the Atlantic convoy
problem He concluded that larg-
er, faster and more heavily armed
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
chine 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
construction of escort-destroyers to
the Bethlehem-H ingman yard, its
officers planned that it would re-
quire four months to build, from
keel-laying to launching.
The -Hingman yard
quickly put into operation the lat
est assembly line methods for guam
tity production, and progressively
whitfield the construction time