Square Bridge Fletcher Book Review
By Stephen Sutton
| Date of Review | July 2016 | Title | Square Bridge Fletcher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | Rick E. Davis | Publisher | Classic Warships Publishing |
| Published | 2016 | ISBN | 978-0-9969199-1-3 |
| Format | 72 pages, softbound | MSRP (USD) | $18.00 |
Review
Classic Warships and Naval historian Rick E. Davis again gives us the later Square Bridge Fletcher which is a companion to the Round Bridge Fletcher class destroyer book, Warship Pictorial 42. These "2,100-toners" became the most successful and the largest class of destroyers built by any nation, fast, roomy, and capable of absorbing enormous punishment with a flush deck design. This book covers the Square Bridge production of 117 units for a total of 175 built in this class. Built with a revised open bridge, improved anti-aircraft armament, and a lighter design. The Square Bridge design went through this configuration change in July 1943 to accommodate the addition of the 40-mm guns before the bridge.
What stands out right away about this book are the color photos found on the covers front and back highlighting the camouflage measures 21 and 31 of the USS ERBEN (DD-631), and the USS COTTON (DD-669). Contained within the 72 pages and covers are 5 color photos and 126 black and white photos, mostly never before seen in print. Included are large photos with crisp details shown like no other publication available.
This book is a "must have" for anyone interested in the visual history of this destroyer type of World War Two. I highly recommend this book for your reference book shelf, the cost of this book hasn’t changed in years and is great value compared to the time and effort it took for Rick Davis and Classic Warships to research and produce this much needed missing design type. Tamiya, Revell, and Trumpeter all have kits of this class destroyer.
Thanks goes out to Steve Wiper of classicwarships.com for the review sample!