The changes in the Sumner reflect the hard won lessons of the war learned from the Fletcher. The Sumner could turn tighter and better defend itself from air attack.

Except for the rudders, the ships are identical from the deck down. The designers, Gibbs & Cox, added a second rudder so the ship could turn in tighter circles when engaging the enemy. This had the unfortunate side effect of making the ship about 3 knots slower than a destroyer from its predecessor class. The Sumner-class also has more guns than the Fletcher to better defend the ship from the Kamikaze attacks. For the crews, the Sumner-class Destroyers were big improvement over the Fletcher Class destroyers except when they were on their way home!

Size: 20½" x 8½"

Click here to learn more about wooden models.

We can also customize this cutaway as any ship of the Sumner Class for no additional charge. The design will remain the same as pictured but, will carry your desired hull number and nameplate. Please allow three to four weeks delivery on custom items as they need to be built from scratch. To create a custom order, please list the hull number in the order comment section.