NIKO MODEL 7017 US Navy Destroyer Escort Gendreau DE-639

USS Gendreau (DE-639) was an American WWII destroyer. The keel for this vessel was laid in 1943, and the launch took place in December of the same year. The total length of the ship at the time of launching was 93 meters and a width of 11 meters. Full displacement reached approx. 1750 tons, and the maximum speed was approx. 23 knots. The armament at the time of the launch consisted of, among other things, three 76 mm guns, 8 20 mm anti-aircraft guns and a Hedgehog missile launcher.

USS Gendreau was one of 102 Buckley-class destroyers. Units of this type were designed and built on a massive scale as escort destroyers with extensive anti-submarine capabilities (ZOP). Their main task was to cover convoys - especially in the Atlantic. Interestingly, the production of this type of units took place in many plants in the USA, and their final assembly took place only in shipyards. They can be viewed as equivalent to the Royal Navy Hunt destroyers. The first combat action USS Gendreau was an escort for a convoy bound for Pearl Harbor and briefly served as a training ship. From the very beginning, the unit also took part in operations in the Okinawa region (April-June 1945), and from May 1945 it covered convoys operating in the area of this island, as well as supported the land forces with its artillery fire. In June of the same year, the USS Gendreau was damaged. After the end of World War II, the ship was placed in reserve in 1948, but it was not sold for scrap until 1973.