Sarzonia
25-10-2004, 15:20
PORTLAND (ASP) -- Portland Iron Works managing director Barbara Tucker has seen a lot of custom requests in the short time the company has been on the market. However, she received an unusual one from Sarzonia's Naval Museum Curator David Hancock Porter the other day.
The request? To build a perfect replica of the USS Johnston, a Fletcher-class destroyer that distinguished itself in the Battle of Leyte Gulf during World War II.
"That was interesting, to say the least," Tucker, a former Sarzonian Navy Commodore said. "We have some designs that are based on ships that served during that period, but this would be the first time we're building a ship that's purely designed to be such a ship."
The Johnston engaged Japanese cruisers in an attempt to protect six American escort carriers from certain destruction by a larger Japanese naval force. The ship took several hits from Japanese cruisers and battleships, but gamely fought a Japanese heavy cruiser. The Japanese navy even insisted on referring to the outgunned American ship as a heavy cruiser.
"Sarzonia has had a rich naval tradition," Porter said. "We share a lot of our nautical history (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366709) with the United States, so we felt that building a replica of the Johnston was appropriate to serve as inspiration for our people."
In addition to a nautical history, the Sarzonian Navy has bloodlines. Josiah Humphreys, a descendant of ship designer Joshua Humphreys helped spearhead the Navy's principles of quality over quantity.
Porter himself is also a descendant of two important American naval figures: David Porter, the gifted captain of the USS Essex, a frigate that was one of the scourges of the seas during the War of 1812, and David Dixon Porter, an admiral who served in the Union Navy during the Civil War.
The request? To build a perfect replica of the USS Johnston, a Fletcher-class destroyer that distinguished itself in the Battle of Leyte Gulf during World War II.
"That was interesting, to say the least," Tucker, a former Sarzonian Navy Commodore said. "We have some designs that are based on ships that served during that period, but this would be the first time we're building a ship that's purely designed to be such a ship."
The Johnston engaged Japanese cruisers in an attempt to protect six American escort carriers from certain destruction by a larger Japanese naval force. The ship took several hits from Japanese cruisers and battleships, but gamely fought a Japanese heavy cruiser. The Japanese navy even insisted on referring to the outgunned American ship as a heavy cruiser.
"Sarzonia has had a rich naval tradition," Porter said. "We share a lot of our nautical history (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366709) with the United States, so we felt that building a replica of the Johnston was appropriate to serve as inspiration for our people."
In addition to a nautical history, the Sarzonian Navy has bloodlines. Josiah Humphreys, a descendant of ship designer Joshua Humphreys helped spearhead the Navy's principles of quality over quantity.
Porter himself is also a descendant of two important American naval figures: David Porter, the gifted captain of the USS Essex, a frigate that was one of the scourges of the seas during the War of 1812, and David Dixon Porter, an admiral who served in the Union Navy during the Civil War.